Smokestacks
by Challiex98
Summary: "You are different. You're not like him. You don't just make me forget about the pain, you make it go away, and no one has ever done that before." [SEASON 1] - COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **ONE**

"Okay, so!"

Savannah let out a squeak as her best friend, Piper, slammed her locker shut, almost chopping off her fingers in the process.

"Not like I need those." Savannah muttered to herself as Piper stuck her tongue out impatiently, and continued with her piece of gossip.

"The word on the street, and by street I mean, according to Cheryl's twitter -"

"Cheryl _Bombshell_." Savannah couldn't help but snicker.

"Savannah! Focus!"

"Oh, come on! Her twitter is named after a push-up bra!"

Piper let out a hiss, her fingers mimicking claws, thrusting them in the direction of her friend.

"Don't be so dramatic." Savannah rolled her eyes, turning away from her friend and starting to head to their next class -Biology. "Just tell me the gossip."

"Polly and Jason broke up."

Savannah halted in her tracks suddenly, her mouth fell open ever so slightly and her heart raced. She craned her neck, trying to see a flash of red hair at the end of the hallway, expecting to see him.

"He's not in school today." Piper told Savannah, knowing exactly who she was looking for. "This is good news, isn't it?"

Savannah frowned in confusion, "How, exactly?"

Piper skirted around her friend until she was standing in front of her, eyes full of hope and wonder. "This means that you and Jason can be together now. No more hiding."

"What?" Savannah asked sharply, partnered with a humourless laugh. "Just cause we kissed a couple of times doesn't mean I want to be his girlfriend."

Piper's face fell, looking almost sad. "I thought you liked him."

"Well, sure." Savannah shrugged, "I like pizza."

She felt raindrops start to litter her arm, splattering against the pale skin and freckles that dotted around the flesh. Her head turned up to the sky, embracing the rain as she let out a shaky breath.

Savannah had been watching Betty Cooper lust after Archie Andrews for the whole of lunch. She walked beside him with a bright smile on her face, body turned to him so that she was constantly tripping over her feet. Archie was kind enough to stabilise her.

But Betty was a track runner.

Anyone who didn't know them would have thought they were a couple, and she wondered if anyone had thought that about her and Jason.

They'd snuck around, sometimes pushing the boundaries and exchanging a chaste kiss over a milkshake at Pop's diner. The first time they had, the brunette had noticed a boy sitting at a booth on the other side of the diner.

Savannah brought her head down from the air and flicked a rather unappetising piece of chicken across her plate. The girl sighed and propped her head up on her elbow, eyes flitting around the school grounds, the bench getting soaked around her.

She used to eat lunch with Piper, who had traded down (in Savannah's opinion) to go makeout with her boyfriend in his car.

Everyone was running back toward the school, except one boy who was sitting at a table not far from her, his eyes locked onto a slit in the wood.

Jughead Jones. The boy from the diner.

He'd cast a look of disgust at her, yet he'd never told Betty, Polly's sister, of their escapades. She merely shrugged in return, the Cooper girl meant nothing to her.

It happened so fast.

Jughead looked up from the table, catching her eyes as she stared at the mysterious boy. She couldn't help but wonder why he spent every free moment of his in that diner.

What was he hiding?

Was he just as broken as she was?

It was that moment, the early June shower raining down on them, ruining whatever effort Savannah had put into her appearance that day, that the girl decided that she wanted to be his friend.

Jughead stood from the table and sauntered toward the school, his clothes already dripping wet. He didn't look back.

The brunette couldn't help but smirk at the door that shut after him, blindly reaching down for her burger that was no longer there.

Savannah frowned and turned her head back to ahead of her, to find one Jason Blossom sitting just across from her. She could feel her heart jump into her throat, feeling thick and suffocating.

Why was he sitting with her? That wasn't what they did.

"Miss me?" He asked, smugly.

"And why would I?" Savannah countered sassily, eyes catching onto the half-eaten burger in his hands. "That belongs to me."

"You can have it back." Jason smirked, a glint of mischievousness flashing in his eyes. "In exchange for a kiss."

Savannah snorted in disbelief, "You _are_ kidding, right? Just cause you and Polly have been broken up for all of ten minutes, doesn't mean anything has changed."

"Huh." Jason maintained his cool facade as he quirked an eyebrow. "So what is this for you then? This whole sneaking around thing."

 _A distraction._

"Fun." Savannah told him with a sarcastic smile.

"Go out with me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I have no interest in dating you."

Jason clutched his heart dramatically, "Ouch, cold."

"Life sucks." Savannah glanced around them, making sure that everyone had left for class before she leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss. "See you tonight."

* * *

When Savannah got home, she hadn't expected to find Piper straddling her older brother on the couch. The sight almost sent her into cardiac arrest.

Her brother, Kyle, was only two years older than them. He'd been the Captain of the basketball team when he was their age, blowing his chances at getting a scholarship at Duke when he started taking steroids to boost his game.

His dream blown, Kyle dropped out of school and started working as a waiter at some restaurant down-town. Piper had been studying there one night, desperate to escape her crowded house.

The Dowers family consisted of Darren Dowers and his loving wife, Katherine. They had gotten married when they were young, fresh out of high school, and had their first child two years later. They hadn't stopped after that until they had six children, three boys and three girls.

That night in the restaurant, Piper had been struggling with geometry, the subject that Kyle had excelled at. Piper called it fate, Savannah called it Satan's evil plan.

"Jeeesus." Savannah groaned, whirling around to face the wall. "Is it possible for you two to keepyour hands off each other for ten seconds?"

"Hey!" Piper exclaimed, rolling off Kyle and wiping her mouth. "I don't complain about you and Jason!"

"Jason's not your brother!" Savannah cried, dramatically. "I think I might be sick."

"Great, get out." Kyle interjected, shooting daggers at his sister before pulling Piper back to him.

"Kill me now."

"Gladly."

* * *

If anything, Savannah was secretly glad that Piper was over. It meant that Kyle would be too busy with his girlfriend to be worrying about where she was sneaking off to. He frowned upon their secret relationship, insisting that Jason had a girlfriend.

Each time he threw that in her face, she would scowl at her older brother, telling him that he'd stolen her best friend and they had went behind her back for months before they'd even considered telling her about their relationship.

Kyle had always felt bad about not telling his sister. She'd found out one day when she burst into his room to borrow one of his boxsets, only to find her best friend in bed with her brother.

They didn't speak in days. Savannah didn't care that they were dating, it was that they hid it from her.

Yet that was hypocritical, right? She _was_ the other woman.

On her way out of the house, she _had_ run into Kyle, who just shook his head in disappointment at her, continuing up the stairs with two glasses of lemonade.

The look in his eyes almost made her stay, that he had given up on her, letting her get on with her mistakes.

Her left foot touched the ankle of her right, ready to slip off her shoes, when her eyes landed on a framed photo of their family sitting on the windowsill next to the door. Just the sight of their fake happy smiles was motivation enough to spur Savannah out of the house and toward Thornhill.

"We need to stop this." Savannah groaned, running her hands through her hair as she rolled away from the boy who stared after her, amused.

"You say that every day." He told her, reaching out for the brunette once more. "If you really meant it, then you'd leave."

Savannah frowned at him, knocking his hands away from her. "I can still walk out, you know."

"Go on then." Jason challenged her, smirking smugly at the girl, knowing full well that she wouldn't make it past the door. "I dare you."

"Screw you." Savannah scowled at the boy, before pushing him back onto the bed and pressing her lips back to his hastily. "You don't know me."

Jason let out a laugh between kisses, "You keep telling yourself that, Savannah."


	2. Chapter 2

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TWO**

When Savannah tottered into her Chemistry class that day, she'd found their teacher drawing up a new seating plan on the black board.

She was insisting that school finished in a week and that this allowed them to get to know their partner for the next semester early.

"Well, gosh, aren't I lucky?" Savannah sarcastically pondered aloud, sitting down in the seat beside Jughead Jones.

"I'm definitely not."

"Ouch," Savannah smirked, tossing her bag down at her feet and kicking it away from her. "He bites."

"Only snakes." Jughead sighed, tapping his pen loudly against his notepad.

The brunette looked at the boy with both curiosity and amusement. "Okay, Jughead Jones, tell me, how am I a snake?"

"Oh, you know." The boy muttered, his voice lowering as the class grew silent, their work having been set for the lesson. "You're sleeping with someone else's boyfriend."

Savannah's eyes narrowed as they filled with fury. "Excuse _you._ " She hissed, so sharply that he turned his head to face her. "You know _nothing_ about my life, so don't you _dare judge me_."

They didn't speak for the rest of the class. Savannah had slid as far away from him as possible, trying to focus on her work rather than the tension between the two of them.

And it definitely wasn't the good kind.

* * *

It was just after dinner that she found him lurking around outside her front porch. He had his hands in his pockets and headphones wrapped around his neck, shifting awkwardly as if debating whether to ring the doorbell.

She wasn't sure how he knew where she lived. Maybe he was some cyber stalker, a hacker, and Pop's diner was his base.

Savannah snorted. As if. Nothing unusual ever happened in Riverdale.

The door was pulled open just as Jughead had curled up his fist to knock. His hand hovered in the air for a few moments before it dropped to his side again.

"Well, come in then." Savannah opened the door wider, stepping back to invite him in.

Striding toward the house, he moved quickly as if hoping to rip the band-aid off and stopped dead in the hallway. The room was completely black and white, including the photos on the wall. There was no colour, no life and no comfort to this home.

Savannah beckoned him with her head and hurried up the stairs in front of him, taking a right at the top into her room.

It was a sharp contrast from the room that he had just come from, the walls were painted a deep blue and on the wall, a phrase was written in beautiful white calligraphy. The curves and embellishments of the words linked together to form the quote, _"Death is not the opposite of life, but a past of it"_.

Jughead frowned at the words and turned to the girl who sat, cross-legged on her double bed, bathed in sheets of purple and surrounded by dozens of small pillows. "What's with the quote?"

Savannah merely blinked at him and cleared her throat awkwardly, "My dad died six months ago." She glanced over her shoulder to set her eyes on the soothing words.

Jughead sat down across from her at the foot of the bed, "I'm sorry, Savannah, I didn't know."

"No, you didn't." Savannah said shortly, "I know that... this thing I have with Jason, it's fun and exciting - and a distraction."

The dark haired boy didn't say anything, but shuffled on the bed, conflicted on what to say. How could he express his feelings toward their relationship, when she'd just announced that her dad had died.

"I know it's a cliché." Savannah told him with a sigh, running a hand through her messy hair. "My dad bought me a piano when I was younger and I never played it. So, I asked Ms. Grundy for lessons. She was giving Jason guitar lessons too, one day we clashed, and that was it, I guess."

"You've been seeing him for six months?"

"Way to make me feel worse." Savannah scoffed, pulling a pillow from beside her to hug it tightly.

Jughead frowned at the girl, "Do you feel bad? About it?"

Savannah debated the question for a moment before she shook her head. "No. I'm glad it happened, because then Polly will know that Jason was never truly faithful. I just wish I hadn't met him again after the first time."

"Why not end it now?"

"Because I need him."

* * *

"Jason!" She'd hissed, her back up against the wall of the janitor's closet, the head of a mop was too close to her head for her liking. "Don't you dare mess up my hair."

The boy smirked and he gently ran his fingers through her curls. "You're beautiful, you know that?"

Savannah felt her heart melt a little but she ignored it and scoffed, "Stop being such a guy, you're already getting in my pants."

"Well, that's a relief." Jason muttered humorously, "What if I want more?"

"You don't." Savannah told him, firmly. "You're just rebounding from Polly. I don't know what happened between you two but you don't deserve her anyway."

Jason took a step back at that, feeling a little hurt that she would just dismiss his feelings like that. Sure, he did love Polly, but he was in a relationship that his parents constantly told him to end. When someone nags at you every single day, telling you that your relationship is doomed, you start to believe them.

"Don't be mad." Savannah said softly, reaching out for him. Her fingers wrapped around his shirt, pulling him gently toward her until his body was pressed against hers.

It was a feeling that felt so good to her, safe. To be so close to another person, to be in such a compromising position between a wall and a muscular body, and yet feel completely safe in that room with him.

She shook the thoughts of her past from her mind and stretched up on her tip toes to press a kiss to his lips. "Please." She pouted, trying to coax him out of his mood.

It was his weakness, she knew him like the back of her hand.

He rolled his eyes and laughed lightly, before he responded just as enthusiastically.

* * *

She sat in their chemistry class, tapping her painted nails against the dark surface, the other hand holding a flask full of clear liquid. Her eyes snapped to the door when the two twins entered, Cheryl rushing to her seat before her brother even stepped a foot into the room.

They must have been arguing again.

Savannah turned to look over her shoulder, her eyes meeting Cheryl Blossom's. The red haired girl looked rather happy, or smug even.

The two girls continued to stare at each other until Jason broke their gaze, taking his seat beside the red head. He smiled at his sister before his eyes flittered toward the brunette.

Savannah felt the air leave her lungs and she felt the swirling pit of guilt settle in her stomach once more. She loved how he was looking at her, like he needed her. It also made her feel ill, reminding her of what a horrible person she was.

Sharply turning back to the front of the class, she heard Jughead clear his throat loudly.

"What is it?" She practically sighed, knowing that it had something to do with her.

"Sorry to interrupt your little love feast," He started, his voice just as monotone as usual. "But I don't know if you noticed that you're pouring diluted acid on the table."

"Aw crap."


	3. Chapter 3

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **THREE**

It had been odd.

Savannah had encouraged him to come over, probably because she knew he'd be the only one to stop her from going to Thornhill. She'd been trying to stay away from Jason, yet he was like the forbidden fruit. He was all that more desirable.

They had decided on pizza, Savannah feeling kind enough to involve her brother in the order. Kyle had snatched up a box for him and Piper, wagging his eyebrows toward Jughead as he walked backwards up the stairs.

"Just ignored him, he's an idiot." Savannah groaned as she bit into a particularly cheesy slice.

Jughead was already on his third slice and looked disturbed by her statement, "I didn't even know you had a brother either. You're a mystery."

"That's what I thought about you." She simply replied, eyes landing on a photo of herself and Kyle that hung on the wall. It was from when they were younger, their father stood between them.

The dark haired boy followed her gaze to the frame and he slid out of his seat, taking a slice of pizza with him, to inspect it closer. "That your dad?"

"Yep." Savannah popped, jumping up to join him, leaving her pizza on the lid of the box.

Jughead turned his head to face the girl, "Who took the photo?"

"My mum."

"What happened to her?"

Savannah glanced at the boy beside her, wondering whether their barely week long friendship was strong enough to handle the truth. "Uh, she's a recovering alcoholic." Without the recovering part. "Spends most of her time in her room."

It felt like minutes ticked by in the monochrome room, the two just standing with their backs to the door. The black clock that hung above the stove was deafening, ringing through Jughead's ears as he found himself entranced by the girl beside him.

He found her so fascinating. That she'd somehow hidden all the heartbreaking parts of her life from the world, keeping to herself.

Jughead Jones was just as much of a mystery to her as she was to him. He always wore the same grey hat, his dark head of hair peeking beneath it with curls running through the unkempt waves. A dark shirt donned his shoulders, his black denim jacket hung over the back of his seat.

"How did you become friends with Piper?" He asked, moving around her to retake his seat at the table, not noticing her staring.

Savannah snapped out of her daze and turned to lean against the wall, "Ballet." She said simply, her eyes meeting his from across the room. "Started when I was six, stopped when I was seven."

Jughead snorted, "Wow, you're committed."

Savannah laughed along with him, pushing the box toward him, allowing the boy to have the last slice of pizza.

They sat in silence for a while, Jughead feeling the sadness wash over him as they ran out of food. Thankfully, though, Savannah seemed to notice this fact and sauntered over to the fridge, pulling out a Mississippi mud pie.

"You are the love of my life." He said, his eyes latching onto the chocolate wonder that lay in her hands.

"Woaaaah boy!" Savannah placed the pie down and backed up with her hands up by her shoulders, "Cool it cowboy."

"I'm talking to the pie." Jughead snapped, the vicious tone in his voice was teasing, reaching over to pluck the fork from her enclosed fist.

"Of course you were, Juggy."

His head snapped up at the name and he couldn't help but think of Betty. The girl who was in love with his best friend.

"Share." Savannah commanded, pulling against the plastic case so that it slid to the middle of the table. She propped herself up on her knees, resting against the table as she reached over to steal the fork that was making its way to Jughead's mouth.

The dark haired boy watched in horror as she ate his forkful of pie, snatching the fork back from her, "Get your own fork."

Savannah flashed a fork in his face, having pulled it from her jeans pocket. "But stealing from you is much, much more fun."

Jughead scowled.

He had swaggered up to her, his red hair glinting like fire and sunsets, football jersey spread across his broad shoulders. The polished floor passed under his maroon boots, picked out by his fashion-accessory of a sister, Cheryl.

Savannah felt him before she heard him, his hand catching on her dainty wrist as she perched it against the side of her locker. Her eyes were wild and frightened, jumping slightly away from his skin while her body sang at the contact.

"Jason." She breathed, her voice growing thicker at the sight of his face so close to hers. She looked around the hallway anxiously, feeling uncomfortable with how many students were around. "What are you doing?"

He smiled softly at the girl, her heart thudding loudly in her chest, so loud that he could almost hear it. His hand slipped from hers and the pulsing ceased, the swirling pit of guilt and regret threatening to open up beneath her and swallow her whole.

"Hey you." He greeted, shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning against the set of lockers with ease. "You've been avoiding me."

"No I haven't." She found herself replying quickly, "You know this is wrong." She pulled away from her locker to face him completely, hand pressed flat against it as she pushed it shut. "We need to end this."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Jason started, the small smile seemingly etched permanently onto his face. "I don't want to end it."

Savannah was stunned. Her hand fell back to her side, body ridden with shock. Her stomach churned as his hand reached for hers, his thumb stroking the back of her hand as her eyes glided up his body to meet his gaze.

"I really like you, Savannah."

It was a punch to the gut that she hadn't been expecting, but she should have been expecting. The unpredictable ocean that was Jason Blossom rolled in waves, soft and wild, kind and unforgiving.

"You don't even know me!" Her words came out harsh, bitter with the taste of the truth. Savannah yanked her hand harshly out of his hand and stepped back from him. "Do you even know my last name?" She demanded furiously.

"Why are you making this so difficult, I know you like me too." Jason wanted to yell, but he composed himself and maintained the irritating facade that had haunted her since the end of the previous summer.

"I don't." Savannah repeated with a scowl, "You were just a distraction, I never wanted anything with you."

That had stunned him. He had been raised with the love and affection that every child deserved. He had been given everything that he had ever wanted and it had ruined him, spurring a game of chase that set his nerves on fire and pumped the blood through his veins just a hundred times faster.

Why did this girl have to be different than the others?

"Savannah, come on. You can't be serious -"

"Why are you making this into a big deal?" Her hand shot out to cut him off, "Do you really think that I could even consider being with someone who would cheat on his girlfriend for _six months?_ "

"It takes two to tango." Jason said shortly.

"Thanks for the biology lesson."


	4. Chapter 4

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **FOUR**

Euphoric.

That was how it felt to be sitting on a bench, basking in the summer sun with her lunch being quickly demolished by her friend.

Her eyes locked onto his face as he shovelled the burger into his mouth, attempting to fit in too much in one go. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he frowned and pulled the burger away again, glaring at it as if the burger had betrayed him.

This lasted just a second, however, before the look of glee overtook him once more, and the burger returned to his already full mouth.

"You gonna slow down with that?" She asked, raising her eyebrow, leaning back onto her palms that supported her body. Savannah was sitting on the bench longways, her legs stretching out along the smooth wood whilst her hands lay flat against the sun soaked surface.

"No." Jughead mumbled as a reply, a piece of lettuce shooting out of his mouth and across the table, clearing Savannah.

"Lovely." She muttered, letting out a sigh as she swivelled herself around to sit upright. "How can you eat so much?"

"I like food."

Savannah paused for a moment and blinked a few times. "How you can eat so much, I'll never understand."

"It takes years of practice." Jughead informed her, swallowing to clear his throat.

She couldn't eat as much as him.

Money was becoming a problem in their house. Kyle's job didn't pay nearly enough to cover the bills and with their mother confining herself to the bed, she'd have to take matters into her own hands.

She had managed to wrangle Pop into giving her a job at his diner, finding herself pouring coffee and replacing a burger every hour or so for Jughead, who apparently seemed to live at the place.

The girl had stumbled into Pop's at half-past seven the morning after their sunny picnic, yanking her hair up into a careless and hasty ponytail as she went, bumping into a counter with a hiss.

"You're late." The voice belonged to someone other than Pop but no other than Jughead Jones, who was already sitting at his favourite booth with his laptop and a cup of coffee spread out in front of him.

"And you're early." Savannah commented as she retracted her hands from her hair and slid behind the counter, leaning against it.

"It's a 24-hour diner." Jughead deadpanned, sliding his empty cup of coffee across the table.

Savannah rolled her eyes and stood up, taking the pot of coffee with her. She sauntered around the counter and refilled his cup, setting the pot down and settling down into the booth with him to drink his coffee.

"Hey!" Jughead reached for the cup but she whirled out of the booth and away from him with a wink.

"Come and get it." She dared, stealing a quarter from the tip box to put into the jukebox.

An old Elvis song came on and Jughead smirked as the girl started to dance around the diner, cleaning up after a few early birds.

It was when she pulled out the bucket and mop that Jughead started to chuckle to himself, "Don't tell me you're going to use it as a skateboard."

"I wasn't." Savannah stuck her tongue out at him, then paused. "That's not a bad idea though." She moved to put her foot inside the bucket when Jughead clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Boring."

"I need more coffee!" Jughead called from his booth, fifteen minutes later. Savannah was mopping the other end of the diner.

"There's literally a whole pot over there."

"Yeah, uh, not any more."

"Honestly." Savannah scoffed, tossing the mop down to make her way back over to the empty coffee pot. "You're a vacuum."

Jughead merely smiled as Savannah started to put a fresh pot on, hoisting herself onto the edge of the counter as she waited for it to brew.

They sat in silence for a little while, just listening to an old song on the jukebox and the slight whirring of the coffee machine, when Jughead broke it with a sharp breath.

Savannah frowned at the boy, who was staring holes into his laptop. "What is it?"

"Jason Blossom's dead."

The girl wasn't sure how she should have reacted to the news. Maybe she should have cried or fallen to the floor. It was wrong for a girl who had spent months in his bed that she didn't have an extreme reaction.

But she wasn't his girlfriend, that was Polly.

"Oh my god." Savannah slid off the counter, feeling her legs turn to jelly at the news. "How?"

Jughead kept scanning what she assumed was an article on his laptop, "He and Cheryl went for a boat ride. He drowned."

"What?" Savannah frowned, making her way over to the booth, pushing him across the bench so she could sit next to him, eyes locking onto the screen. "That makes no sense, he was the best swimmer in school."

"That's what it says."

Savannah's frown deepened as her eyes fell to the floor.

Something just didn't feel right.

* * *

He was dead.

She couldn't quite wrap her head around the news.

When Savannah crossed the threshold of her house later that night, she kicked the door shut behind her and tossed her keys into a bowl they sat on a nearby bookshelf.

Her hands threaded through her hair, tugging at the ends as she tried to figure out what she was feeling. Jason Blossom. He was just a boy that she had been using.

Right?

He was a cheater, he hurt his girlfriend over and over again, yet she had done that to Polly too. She should have known better.

Maybe if she had stayed at his house the night before, he wouldn't have went on that boat ride with Cheryl, he would still be alive. She would be buried in his bed sheets, laughing as he pressed gentle kisses to her shoulders.

He was more than a distraction. If he was, she would have been easily able to leave that house without a glance back. Instead, she found herself wanting to run back up the stairs and fall into bed with him again.

"Vanna?" She heard Piper ask from the top of the staircase. Her voice was thick with grief as tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry." She thudded down the steps and engulfed her friend in a tight hug. "I'm so so sorry."

Savannah said nothing, returning the hug as reality started to set in.


	5. Chapter 5

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **FIVE**

Death happens to someone, the pitch black that looms behind the back of your eyelids each time you blink - for one second, giving in - finally consuming the whole of your soul.

Dying, however, is so much more painful. Sometimes at the end of the long, dark tunnel when you stare at the bright light that paralyses every fibre of your being, you find that your heart is still beating, your blood is still pumping and you, are, alive.

Dying is the process of standing at the edge of fresh, bunched up soil, staring at the cold stone that now defines a person. A pain so intense, you can almost see your bloody heart dripping from a tight fist inside a mahogany coffin, six feet beneath you.

Dying isn't when your heart stops beating, it's when the one that you love's does.

Savannah could remember how it felt when her dad died. She locked herself in her room and cried for two days.

After she left the confines of those four walls, she acted as if nothing had happened. She always had been a rather good actress, not allowing herself to be vulnerable. She knew better than that.

For Jason Blossom, she couldn't help but feel for Polly.

She wanted nothing more than for Jason to have sought out Polly and told her how much he loved her before he died. She figured it was quite selfless of her, considering how self _ish_ she had been.

"Savannah?" Her friend asked from across the booth, the blonde offering a smile to the girl. "Are you okay?"

Savannah nodded at the girl. She could remember the day so clearly when she had become friends with Elizabeth Cooper.

Jughead had brought her to the diner for lunch one day, both of them talking about Archie and how they hadn't seen him all summer. They missed him - Betty admitted, Jughead avoided.

When a group of boys from school came into the diner wearing their football jerseys, talking about the loss of their captain, arguing over who would take his place after the break, Savannah threw a tray in their direction at how insensitive they were.

The boys jumped up immediately, recognition flashing in their eyes at the sight of the furious girl. One moved toward the girl angrily when Betty slid in front of him, eyes determined and unwavering.

"I think you need to leave." She had said firmly, "You aren't wanted here."

The boy looked over her shoulder at Jughead, who was leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest, a daring expression pulled across his face.

The group of boys had left after that, not saying another word and Savannah turned to Betty, offering a thankful smile. She took her hand and led her over to their vacated booth, the same booth where they sat today.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Betty asked, looking up from her book. "I hate to think of how you and Polly must feel."

Savannah's head snapped up at that. She didn't know that Betty knew about her secret romance with Jason Blossom, and she couldn't believe Betty was mentioning it in such a casual manner.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it." Betty frowned and placed the bookmark inside her book, marking the page and setting it down. "I just can't stop thinking about her. My parents won't let me speak to her."

The brunette didn't say anything and took a fry from Jughead's bowl. He scowled at the girl, who stuck her tongue out at him in return.

Savannah pushed the bowl away and leaned back against the leather of the booth with a sigh, "Is it horrible if I say that I don't really feel anything about it?"

Betty pursed her lips and frowned, "You were with him for six months. It's probably just not hit you yet."

Savannah scoffed, "We were in some twisted affair that he believed he could turn into more. I don't know, Betty. Maybe I just didn't let myself feel for him, I didn't want to let him in so he could hurt me."

Jughead supported himself with his elbows on the table of the booth, sharing a look with Betty. "What makes you say that?"

"Uh." Savannah had slipped up, she hadn't meant to say that. "Nothing, it's just... he hurt Polly, right?" She laughed awkwardly and slid out of the booth. "More coffee?"

The two both nodded in agreement, but they knew that Savannah was hiding something from them.

* * *

Piper didn't understand how Savannah was taking everything so well. She had been approached by a few people, older customers who had seen her with the boy on occasion, and was told that they were sorry for her loss.

Was she?

Did this not make it all easier for her? That she didn't have to worry about repeating her parents' mistakes?

Savannah shook her head and sighed, pouring another cup of coffee for Piper, who was watching her like a hawk. The blonde took the cup of coffee and sipped on it slowly.

"Want to hang out tonight?" Piper asked quietly, wanting to be there for her friend in the event that she broke down.

"Sure." Savannah nodded, placing the pot back on the counter. "Charmed marathon?"

"Obviously." Piper scoffed, as if there had been any other option. "I'm in it."

"Of course you are, Piper."


	6. Chapter 6

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **SIX**

On the last night of summer vacation, Savannah found herself staring into Piper's closet, listening to said girl's attempting to convince her that she'd suit whatever she picked out.

"Do you have anything that isn't three sizes too big or has the potential for a nip-slip?"

"Nope." Piper responded brightly, "I dunno why you wanted to search my closet, you hate my clothes."

"You're just so extreme, there's no in-between. It's either all out or drowning yourself in baggy clothes."

"It's a fashion statement."

"Who are you kidding?"

Piper slid off her bed slowly, approaching the girl like a wounded animal. She didn't know what Savannah was thinking, but she was sure that the brunette was hiding how she really felt. Her face had always lit up at the sight of Jason, like she was excited.

"Savannah." Piper started, taking hold of the girl's hand and pulling her over to sit on the bed.

"Yeah?" Savannah frowned at her friend, beginning to feel worried at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Are you okay? Did something happen with Kyle?"

"No." The blonde shook her head, "I'm just worried about you. The whole Jason thing -"

"Piper, please." Savannah sighed deeply, "People keep telling me how I should feel and I just want to put it all behind me, okay? It happened, it's over."

"Okay... Okay, if that's what you want." Piper relented. Not quite believing the girl.

"Thank you."

* * *

Staring up at the school, Savannah was worried for the first time since her father's death about walking into that school. Surely everyone knew about her hidden romance with Jason and they would be glaring at her as she walked down the halls.

It was only when a cold hand slipped into her own that she took in a deep breath. Betty squeezed her hand and gently pulled her forward, edging the two into the school together.

"I know I made a mistake." Savannah breathed out, feeling the guilt start to drown her in some sort of sick irony. "I don't want them to stare."

"They won't." Betty said to the girl, "Everyone is focusing on Cheryl, who is as peppy as ever, as if her brother didn't die."

Savannah frowned at that.

The two took in the bare blue locker and the clear floor beneath it. It was as if Jason's death was a fleeting moment in everyone's lives and that they shed a tear, and moved on.

"Come on." Betty urged the girl toward the hall. "Cheryl's supposed to be making a speech."

"Thank you for that moment of silence." Cheryl's voice echoed loudly through the hall. She had placed a black fishnet veil over the top of her head as a sign of mourning. "Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally."

They were sitting next to the new girl, Veronica Lodge, who Savannah could care less about. This new girl carried herself like she was the best thing since sliced bread.

"Each and every one of you meant the world to Jason. I loved my brother." Cheryl continued, "He was, and always will be, my soul mate. So I speak with the confidence that only a twin could have. Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning."

Savannah thought back to the times that she had spent with Jason. He was always kind to her, considerate. He wasn't a bad person, just a boy who made mistakes. He was human.

"Jason would want us to move on with our lives. Which is why I've asked the school board not to cancel the back-to-school semi-formal." The students around Savannah broke into cheers and applause, excited girls turning to each other with wide grins.

"- But rather, to let us use it as a way to heal, collectively and celebrate my brother's too, too short life on this mortal coil. Thank you, all."

Savannah joined the rest of the school who clapped for Cheryl, some in pity, others in excitement, and the rest, with slight worry for the red head who was acting much too chipper for a girl who had practically watched her brother drown.

When lunchtime rolled around, the second-most highly anticipated part of the day, Savannah stood at the edge of the seating area outside, her eyes scanning the grounds for a few tufts of familiar hair.

As her eyes landed on Betty Cooper, she almost took a step to head in that direction when Veronica Lodge sat down at the very same table. Savannah scrunched her nose and rethought sitting with Piper and her brother, who always visited at lunch time for their makeout session.

"Not a fan of the new girl?" A familiar voice asked from beside her, causing Savannah to let out a quiet yelp and jump, almost dropping her tray.

Jughead chuckled lightly and nodded his head in the direction of a nearby tree. They sat down beneath it and Savannah split her lunch with the boy who never ate food that actually belonged to him.

The boy wanted to devour the whole tray, but held himself back. He wouldn't mention it, but had noticed how she had been more careful with her money. The next day, he'd buy lunch.

Savannah held the burger out to him and he shook his head.

"Eat it." Jughead ordered with a glint in his eye, "No one would dare stare into the goodness of a burger and not salivate at the mere scent of its deliciousness."

Savannah rolled her eyes at his dramatics and murmured, "Oh ha ha."

* * *

The night of the semi-formal was one that Savannah intended to spend curled up on Piper's bed with some terrible zombie movie. Instead, Piper had decided to go with Kyle, who tossed a bucket of toffee popcorn in her direction.

But even after she put the movie on and snuggled under the covers, she found herself terribly bored and feeling especially alone. It wasn't the same without Piper.

Her hand reached for her phone, unlocking it and instantly hitting one of the numbers on her speed dial.

He answered immediately, the same monotone, bored voice coming through the phone. By the sound of clinking plates and his frantic typing, she assumed that he was at Pop's.

"You busy?"

"What do you want?"

"You at Pop's?"

"When am I not at Pop's?"

"I'll see you in ten, okay?"

"Do I have to?"

She'd thrown on a pair of leggings and an over-sized shirt before borrowing her mother's car to meet Jughead in his favourite booth. As she threw herself down opposite him, the boy slid his cup of coffee over to her, signalling to the waitress that he'd like another.

They didn't speak for a while and they didn't need to. Just being in each other's company was enough, listening to the soft music playing in the background harmonising with the soothing sound of fingertips on a keyboard.

"Why didn't you go to the formal?" Savannah asked eventually, already on her second cup of coffee. She relished in the feeling of the hot liquid trickling down her throat and making her stomach feel warm.

"Why didn't you?" Jughead asked in return, always answering a question with another question. He didn't look up from his laptop, pausing in his typing for a moment to take a sip of his coffee.

Savannah bit her lip, tempted to avoid the question, but her mind screamed at her to tell the truth. To confide in Jughead.

She'd found herself wanting to spend time with him, seeking him out in a crowd and calling him more often than he said he'd like - when truthfully, he enjoyed their phone calls too.

"Uh, I couldn't make it to the last semi-formal. Let's just leave it at that, it kinda ruined them for me."

Jughead ceased his typing, his fingers stopping as if frozen. He shut the lid half-down, his eyes narrowed and calculating as he watched the brunette close her eyes for a few moments, before taking a deep breath and opening them again.

"I'm not going to ask." Jughead told the girl, her eyes flitting up to meet his. "But if you want to talk about it, I'm here."

Savannah opened her mouth to reply when a familiar boy came running into Pop's. He looked panicked and much too fancy to be eating in a diner.

"What is Archie doing here?" She whispered to Jughead, who was frowning and shrugged in return.

The red-haired boy came over to the table and for a split second, Savannah saw Jason staring down at her, with his charming smile and ruffled hair. Her mouth dropped and she could feel her stomach clench.

"I'll give you two a moment." She said, sliding out of the booth as quickly as possible, disappearing into the bathroom.

Savannah fumbled in her back pocket for her phone, trying to keep ahold of it with her clammy fingers as she dialled the familiar number.

The brunette moved over to the wall, her free hand pressed against it as she slid down to the floor. The phone rang and rang, until she finally heard his voice.

 _"Hey, it's Jason, sorry I can't make it to the phone right now, but leave a message and I'll phone you back."_

Savannah sniffled and locked her phone, ending the call and resting her head back against the wall. A single tear trickled down her cheek as the girl felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

Maybe those six months had meant something after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **SEVEN**

Little did Savannah know that she would be waking up, much too early, to the sound of a loud ringing by her ear.

"Hello." Savannah mumbled, groggily into the phone. She rolled over onto her stomach, her half-open eyes attempting to adjust to the dark.

"They've found a body." The girl on the other end said. It was a voice that Savannah hadn't heard directed toward her before, but there was no mistaking who it was.

"Cheryl?" The brunette sat up on her bed suddenly, no longer feeling tired.

"Please," Cheryl sounded broken, almost afraid. "Come."

"Okay."

And so, Savannah sat outside the morgue, waiting for the terrifying news that would solidify the fact in her mind. That Jason was dead and he was never coming back.

The brunette heard Cheryl's cry in the other room and her heart plummeted into her stomach. She felt her breath catch in her throat, feeling like she couldn't breathe until she saw him herself.

Without another second, Savannah leapt up from the uncomfortable metal chair that had been digging into her back and burst through the door to see the most haunting thing she would ever see.

"Oh my god." Savannah choked out, ignoring the examiner that was insisting on her leaving the room.

Penelope and Clifford Blossom said nothing at the intrusion, the latter merely raised an eyebrow at the girl, not knowing who this girl was. Penelope had a handkerchief held to her face, covering her features as she grieved for her son, whilst Clifford appeared much like a statue.

Savannah moved around to the side where Cheryl was, slipping a cold hand into hers. The girl cast a thankful nod in the brunette's direction, before her eyes settled on her brother again.

His face was droopy, grey and would remain to be the most horrifying sight she would ever have to see. Her eyes would not stray from the bullet hole in the centre of his forehead, the mark that told her that someone had hurt him, _murdered him_.

All Savannah could think in that moment was that the girl she was holding onto, Cheryl Blossom, had lied.

Jason Blossom didn't drown.

* * *

Kyle hadn't been sure what to do when he'd opened the door at midnight, to find his sister standing in the dark. He'd frowned at the girl, before he stepped forward and embraced her tightly.

"It was Jason." She heaved, "Cheryl wanted me to go see the body with her."

"What?" Her brother spluttered, instantly releasing her. "Why would she want you there?"

Savannah let out a sigh as she sunk down onto one of the chairs. "Honestly? I have no idea. Maybe she thinks we were more than we were."

"Sounds plausible." He said in agreement, "Are you hungry? Do you want me to order pizza?"

"No." Savannah shook her head, "Where's mom?"

Kyle scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "Where do you think?"

The brunette girl let out a sigh of disbelief and let her head fall to her chest, "Let me guess, anywhere with tequila."

"Pretty much." Kyle moved to sit next to his sister, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Piper's upstairs if you want to talk to her."

"Nah, it's okay. I'll see her in the morning." She said to him, standing up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'm tired and I want to go to bed."

"Okay, Savannah." Kyle nodded, following her actions and hugging her tightly to him. "I am sorry about Jason."

"Yeah, thanks." Savannah muttered solemnly, unable to keep herself from thinking of Polly Cooper. The girl she didn't know, yet stabbed in the back.

Although she tried, she really did try, Savannah found herself at Kyle's door late at night, her duvet wrapped around her shoulders like a cape. She had suddenly felt cold with the memories of Jason haunting her, reminding her of the times she spent in his bed.

So, it was at two in the morning that Kyle pulled all of the pillows, duvets and blankets down from all the bedrooms - the mattresses soon followed - to make a giant fort in the living room.

It felt like they were children again, and Kyle couldn't help but feel overjoyed at the look of glee on Savannah and Piper's faces as they crawled onto the large mattress on the floor, each side covered by another mattress or the back of a couch.

Across the top laid the blanket that their grandmother had bought them for Christmas before she died. It was of the night sky with hundreds of stars standing out against the black and a streak of light shooting across the cotton strands.

Kyle fell asleep first, but that was okay, Piper stayed awake with Savannah, stroking her hair until she fell into a dreamless sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **EIGHT**

Throughout the house, bathed in black, all that could be heard was the high-pitched, girlish giggles that slipped beneath the cracks of Elizabeth Cooper's bedroom door.

It had been a week since Jason's body had been found and Savannah was starting to let herself forget about his waterlogged body, the source of her nightmares and sleepless nights.

As Betty Cooper laughed at a YouTube video they had put on her iPad, setting it up against a wall of pillows, Savannah couldn't stop the rumble of laughter that built up within her chest.

Savannah smirked and slapped the iPad face-down onto the bed, it instantly shutting off. She turned to her friend, who looked outraged, and asked swiftly, "So, what's the deal with you and Archie then?"

Betty shuffled uncomfortably and sat up straighter against the headboard. "Ever since he and Veronica kissed, it's been difficult."

"I still can't believe you forgave her,Betty." Savannah rolled her eyes, moving to rest on her stomach to face Betty. "She wanted to be your friend and by the next day, she'd thrown it all in your face. That's not a friend."

"I don't think you can say anything." Betty countered, feeling the need to defend Veronica.

"No." Savannah snapped sharply, "We are not talking about Jason and Polly. I don't even know her, Betty,don't throw that in my face."

Betty bit her lip awkwardly and managed to nod once. "It doesn't matter anyway. Archie doesn't feel the same way. He told me that on the night of the dance."

Savannah pursed her lips in thought, her mind whirling as she remembered the night at Pop's with Jughead, when Archie burst through the doors in a panic. It must have been after he kissed Veronica and went searching for Betty, who took off to save herself the heartbreak.

"Boys choose the wrong girl, Betty." Savannah told her, trying not to think of Polly and Jason. "And when it all blows up in their faces, they'll realise that it was you all along. Trust me, Archie will open his eyes one day."

Betty smiled softly. "I hope so." She then let out a sigh and continued, "But if he and Veronica want to be together and they're happy then I'll just have to live with that. I can't come between them."

"Screw that." Savannah scoffed, her face contorting with disgust for the Lodge girl. "He was your boy first, she swooped in with her pearls and bouquet of yellow flowers for "friendship". Screw that, and screw her."

"Veronica is my friend, Savannah." Betty told her for the hundredth time.

Savannah opened her mouth to say something, when she faltered. Jason had been Polly's girl and she had swooped in with her need for a distraction, torn apart by her father's death.

"How do you feel about the whole Jason thing?" Betty asked her friend.

"I don't know." Savannah told her, feeling that the answer was entirely truthful. "I think from the beginning I wouldn't let myself feel for him, but he was still a person that I connected with on some level."

She thought of her parents and how this situation felt all too familiar. She remembered the nights when she'd cling to her stuffed animals, hidden underneath the comfort of her bed. The place where children believed they were safe, under their covers like the cruel truths of the world couldn't reach them there.

"Are you coming to Pop's?" Betty asked from her vanity.

Savannah hadn't noticed her move. "Who's going?"

"Veronica, for one." Betty said cautiously, ignoring Savannah's groan from the bed. "Kevin and Jughead."

At the sound of his name, Savannah sat up, her legs forming a basket. "Jughead's going? Surprising."

"He's been less of a lone wolf these days," Betty commented as she picked up her pink lipstick, reapplying a light layer. "I'm glad he's spending more time with us again, I don't know why he and Archie fell out to begin with."

Savannah simply shrugged and rolled off the bed to check her appearance behind Betty in the mirror.

"Can I borrow some lipstick?" Savannah asked her friend, moving closer to the vanity and inspecting the variety on the table. They were all pink, except for an unexpected red one. Savannah smirked and held it up, "Never pegged you as a scandalous scarlet kind of girl, Betty."

Betty's eyes widened a fraction at the sight of the lipstick and the reminder of what had happened in the hot tub with Chuck. "Veronica loaned it to me." She said quickly.

"Ew." Savannah dropped the lipstick quickly and searched for the most neutral colour that she could find in Betty's selection. She picked up the shade _Mocha_ and popped the lip off.

The sound of that alone made Savannah feel alive, as if she was finally smelling the roses and that she was putting the whole Jason situation behind her.

She didn't even have to force the smile on her face after she placed the lipstick back down on the vanity. Maybe pink was her colour after all.

* * *

"The drive-in closing, it's just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale." Jughead ranted, his voice fast and rough, fuelled by the fury that his place of work was going to be closed down. "No. Forget Riverdale. In the coffin of the American dream. As the godfather of indie cinema, Quentin Tarantinto, likes to say -"

"Please, God, no more Quentin Tarantino references." Kevin interrupted, his face contorted in what could be described as pain.

"What?" Jughead asked sharply, "I'm pissed."

"Yes, we gathered that, Jughead." Savannah said, staring into her chocolate milkshake as she stirred it with her straw.

"It's not just about losing my job." Jughead continued, much to the dismay of Kevin, who felt rather boxed in as he was sat at the wall side of the booth. "The Twilight Drive-In should mean something to us. People should be trying to save it."

Veronica placed her hand down on the table in front of Jughead, "In this age of Netflix and VOD, do people really want to watch a movie in a car? I mean, who even goes there."

Savannah rolled her eyes at the raven-haired girl.

"People who want to buy crack." Kevin told her, seriously.

Jughead took over, "And cinephiles and car enthusiasts, right, Bets?"

They all looked over at Betty, who was staring at her lap silently, lost in thought. At the sound of her name, Betty blinked and nodded, not sure what she was agreeing to. "Totally."

"Anyway, it's closing because the town owns it but didn't invest in it. So when an anonymous buyer made Mayor McCoy an offer she couldn't refuse -"

"Anonymous buyer?" Veronica repeated in disbelief, "What do they have to hide? No one cares."

"Clearly Jughead does." Savannah interjected, frowning at the girl in distaste. "Do you really have to try and dismiss people's feelings like that?"

Veronica simply looked at the girl and returned to her milkshake. She knew by now that Savannah had a problem with her, however she understood that any attempts to try and build a bridge between them would be futile.

Jughead cleared his throat to try and break the tension. "You guys should come to closing night. I'm thinking America _Graffiti_. Or is that too obvious?"

"I vote for anything starring Audrey Hepburn. Or Cate Blanchett." Veronica said, turning to Kevin who agreed.

"Or _The Talented Mr. Ripley._ " Kevin nodded happily, turning to Betty suddenly. "Betty, your choices?"

Betty, who hadn't been paying attention once more, blinked as she was startled back into reality.

"Everything okay, B?" Veronica asked Betty, from across the table.

Savannah, however, decided to nudge Jughead, who she was sitting beside. "This is really important to you, isn't it?"

"Yes." Jughead replied with a sigh, "Just wonder what they're going to tear it down and turn it into."

"Whatever it is, maybe you could get a job there." Savannah teased, nudging him once more with her elbow and grinning widely.

The boy made to quip back with some snide remark but faltered at the sight of her bright smile. He could almost see the broken girl behind the facade of happiness, except it wasn't a facade. She was healing – and it had nothing do with Jason Blossom.

"You look good." He decided to tell her instead.

The brunette felt her cheeks heat up and she nodded, "Thanks, Jug." She said softly, turning back to the rest of their friends, who were still focused on Betty.

"How about _Rebel Without a Cause._ "Betty offered, glancing over at Jughead, who met her gaze and offered a humorous grin.

"Be sure to put all that cash in the register." Cheryl's snobbish voice carried through the diner."You are a Lodge after all, and Lodges are known to have sticky fingers."

"Cheryl." Veronica stood up in a rage and marched over to where her mother stood.

Savannah patted at Betty's shoulder to prompt her to slide out of the booth, allowing the brunette to move over to Cheryl's table as well.

"Honey, I got this." Veronica's mom told her, holding a finger up to her daughter. "Cheryl, I went to school with your mother. She didn't know the difference between having money and having class either."

Savannah glared after the woman as she moved away from the table, and turned to Veronica. "Does your mother always try to put down teenage girls?"

"What is your problem?" Veronica finally snapped, "I don't understand what I did to make you so rude to me."

"Oh really, you don't?" Savannah laughed humourlessly, "So, you didn't try to be Betty's friend and then stab her in the back. Flowers and cupcakes don't solve problems,Veronica."

"I apologised!" Veronica almost cried, sensing Betty's presence beside her.

"Savannah." Betty shook her head at her friend. "This doesn't involve you."

"No." Savannah smiled softly with a nod."You're right, it doesn't involve me. Doesn't mean her mother has any right to attack a _grieving_ teenager."

She shot one final glare at Veronica and grabbed Cheryl's hand, pulling her out of the diner along with her. The redhead let out a squeak of protest as she was dragged behind the building, her eyes wide and uncertain.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch all the time, Cheryl?" Savannah finally exploded, sighing with exasperation. "That was uncalled for."

"Why did you stick up for me? We're not even friends." Cheryl said quietly, unsure of what else she could say.

"I don't have to be your friend to speak up for you." The brunette told her quickly, "You're in mourning, everyone should respect that. Even if you are being unnecessarily rude."

Cheryl watched as Savannah stormed away from the diner, very much intending to walk home, despite the fact that she'd driven herself and Betty there in Kyle's beat-up truck. Was she really about to abandon her friend?

"Savannah!" She heard a male voice call after her. She recognised it as Jughead immediately. "Savannah,wait."

"What do you want, Jughead?" She asked,continuing on walking along the parking lot, the rocks crunching satisfyingly under her feet.

"Just, stop." He grabbed hold of her forearm, forcing her to stand still and turn around to face him.

"I'm not going to apologise." She told him firmly.

"I'm not asking you to." Jughead held up his hands in surrender, "If anything, I agree with you."

"You don't like Veronica either?"

"I couldn't care for Veronica, I'm just worried about you and Betty." Jughead disregarded the topic of the raven-haired beauty. "She let go of the fact that you screwed over her sister, Savannah, the least you could do is try to be civil with Veronica."

"Maybe." Savannah agreed, folding her arms tightly across her chest. "But that girl infuriates me, acting like she's above everyone else and getting on at Cheryl for doing the same. They're so similar."

"How can you be okay with Cheryl and hate Veronica?"

"Cheryl doesn't deny that she's a bitch."Savannah told him honestly. "Cheryl lost her brother, okay? He wasn't even just her brother, he was her best friend, her soul mate. I know if I lost Piper or my brother, I'd be in pieces. She deserves little slack."

Jughead didn't say anything as he turned to see the red head in the diner. She'd quickly returned to her friends, or minions as she called them, trying to act like nothing had ever happened.

"She gets constantly hated on and Veronica _is loved._ " Savannah snapped, her hands balling into fists,squeezing her thumbs tightly. "Every single thing that comes out of Veronica's mouth is like a cliché, empowering speeches, appearing to be the voice of the greater good. It makes me sick."

"She did get _Justice for Ethel_."He mentioned, bringing up the whole score book that Jason's football team had. "After the book."

Savannah's eyes darkened. "Jason was not a bad person." She told him firmly, "I will not tolerate anyone who says that he was because maybe he made a few mistakes, but he still cared about people. He didn't just play with Polly, he did love her, he just didn't know how to handle that."

"Might wanna tell Betty that." Shrugged, the two of them looking at the blonde who was sitting in the booth, staring out of the window at them.

Savannah's eyes met Betty's and she let out a sigh at the smile that she offered her. The brunette wanted to return it, she wanted that signal to make sure that everything was okay between them, but it was too difficult.

And so instead, she turned away from Betty, away from Jughead and continued her way down the rocky drive.


	9. Chapter 9

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **NINE**

Savannah had heard from Jughead that everything kicked off that night. He finally revealed to her about Archie and Ms. Grundy's forbidden romance, something that had surprised Savannah considering how "sweet" Archie was - according to Betty. Yet she could relate.

Ms. Grundy had left town. Why? Savannah wasn't entirely sure, nor did she need to know.

The news had arisen that Jason's body had been released to the Blossom's and they were holding another funeral. It felt bizarre that they had buried an empty coffin, forever wondering where their son's body was.

Savannah had decided to turn up at Betty Cooper's house before school, intent on walking with her. The blonde had bounced down the stairs, expecting it to be Archie waiting for her on the other side.

"Hi." Savannah offered.

Betty leaned into the open door and smiled, "Hi."

"I don't have flowers or cupcakes, but I came to say I'm sorry." Savannah said to her friend, wringing her hands awkwardly.

"It's okay." Betty reached down for her backpack, pushing her arms through the loops until it settled neatly between her shoulder blades. "I can't force you to like Veronica."

Savannah moved back onto the porch as Betty stepped out of the house, closing the door behind her. "Is Archie walking with us?"

"I don't think so." Betty sighed, her mind wandering as she recalled how it was her fault that Ms. Grundy got sent away.

The two moved down the steps in silence and setoff toward the school. The blonde was thinking of the same thing as Savannah, except the latter was missing some of the details that Betty knew.

"Is this about Ms. Grundy?" Savannah finally asked, revealing that she knew what had happened.

Betty snapped back into reality and gaped at her friend in shock, "Who told you?"

"Jughead." She said, sheepishly. "I just can't believe that Archie and Ms. Grundy were together."

The blonde whirled around, checking to see if anyone had heard them. "Shh!" She hissed, eyes wide and panicked. "I just - I don't know what to say to him."

"Obviously he's hurting because he liked her and she left, I don't know if there is a lot you can say to him."

"But it's my fault she left." Betty sighed, her hands grabbing onto her head, hair sleeked back into a ponytail. "My mom read _my diary_ and she blackmailed her into leaving, how can I not say something?"

Savannah stopped in her tracks, her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "You're telling me that Alice Cooper made Ms. Grundy leave?"

Betty froze next to her friend and slowly turned to face her. "You - you didn't know that?"

"Nope." Savannah popped, her head spinning. "I'm not going to lie. Good on her. Ms. Grundy should not have been in a relationship with a student, it's disgusting."

The two started moving again, when Betty finally opened her mouth once more. "Um, Savannah? I found out that she also tutored Jason in music."

Savannah wasn't surprised that Betty told her that, though the girl was more than aware. After all, it was how she and Jason had started their relationship in the first place.

"I know."

* * *

Savannah was sitting in a swivel chair in the Blue and Gold News room, listening to Kevin Keller tell their little group that consisted of her, Betty and Jughead, about how his dad's board had been trashed.

"Any leads on who did that?" Jughead asked, perched on the edge of one of the desks, his eyes locked on the board. "And what they were looking for?"

"Nope. No fingerprints." Kevin turned to face Betty, who was sitting on the edge of another desk. "But they stole a bunch of files, background checks and all the video and audio tapes of police interviews."

Savannah opened her mouth to speak when the door was suddenly opened and an attractive boy poked his head through the door.

"Oh hey, Betty." He smiled widely at the girl, moving into the room.

Betty stood up and smiled just as widely back at him, "Trev, hi!"

Savannah didn't miss the look of disgust on Jughead's face as he watched the exchange between the two. She frowned as he very obviously looked jealous.

"Sorry to interrupt, but -" His eyes landed on the murder board before he turned his attention back to Betty.

"Oh, no. It's okay!" Betty assured him, "We're just working on -"

"Our murder board." Jughead interjected, glaring down the boy with eyes of disapproval.

Betty and Kevin nodded along awkwardly, not sure what they could have said to make this boy think they were normal for having a murder board. In school.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure we're still on for tomorrow."

"Absolutely." Betty confirmed with a gleeful look. "It's a date." She then paused and laughed awkwardly, "I mean, I'll - I'll see you there."

Kevin looked over his shoulder at Savannah, who was watching her blonde friend with a confused look on her face. She's crossed her ankles atop the table and was peering over the tips of her feet.

"Bye."

"Uh, see you." Trev left with a grin on his face, whilst Betty muttered another uncomfortable farewell.

Before anyone else could say anything, Savannah had jumped up from her seat so quickly that it shot back against the wall. "Oh, dearest Betty."

"Not a word." Betty sighed, her eyes set on the door, reflecting on how awkward she had been.

"You're going on a date with Trev?" Kevin practically exploded, "Does Mama Cooper know about that?"

"Kev, I'm not on house arrest." Betty told him, which made Savannah assume that Alice wasn't happy with her daughter for hiding Ms. Grundy and Archie's relationship.

Kevin tried to meet Betty's eyes as she looked everywhere else in the room apart from at him. His expression clearly screamed that she was lying to his face.

"Okay, she's out of town at a Women in Journalism spa retreat."

"That's a thing?" Savannah asked Jughead, who shot a glance in her direction and smirked.

"Anyway, I mean - It's not a "date" date." Betty tried to defend her actions, turning her back to Kevin and moving around the desks to shuffle some papers.

"You just called it a date." Jughead told her, "You literally said, "It's a date."."

"That's just my cover." Betty told them, "Really, it's an intelligence-gathering mission."

"What intelligence are you trying to gather?" Savannah's eyes twinkled with mischievousness, "The size of his -"

Betty interrupted her swiftly, shooting a glare in her direction. "We should focus on the one thing we have access to that your dad doesn't," The blonde locked eyes with Kevin, who looked rather amused. "The kids at Riverdale High."

Jughead seemed to relax slightly at her excuse.

"Maybe Trev knows something about Jason he didn't think was important."

"I doubt it." Savannah said, frowning at her friend. "I'm sure Jason started spending less time with Trev, but you're entitled to your "intelligence-gathering mission"," the girl quoted as she moved back toward the door, humour dancing in her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Jughead asked her, folding his arms across his chest.

"I have a date too." She teased, smirking at his suddenly sullen face. "With Piper and my brother!" She cried dramatically, picking her backpack up from the door.

"Have fun." Betty called.

"I won't." Savannah muttered as she sauntered out of the room.

* * *

Savannah wasn't ready for this, even with her fingers locked firmly between Betty's.

They were standing at the gates of Thornhill, somewhere that Savannah had never wanted to return to. She felt Jughead appear on the other side of her and she offered him a thankful smile, though it didn't quite meet her eyes.

He linked her arm through his and they walked through the spiked gate, trying to make their way up the hill without either of the girls falling over in the black heels they'd decided to wear, after all, it was a funeral.

It felt dirty to be at his house. Sure, she'd been there many times, but during the night and leaving before the sun had fully risen in the sky. They had hidden from his parents, sharing a sweet goodbye kiss on his doorstep before she retreated into the shadows.

They reached the front door and Savannah split off from her friends, moving over to Penelope and offering her a smile. To her surprise, the woman stepped forward and lightly placed her arms around the girl.

She was surprised, but accepted the hug all the same. "Thank you for inviting me." Savannah said to the woman.

"Of course." Penelope nodded, her eyes locked on the blonde girl behind the brunette. "Anything for the girl that my son was involved with."

Savannah's eyes widened as she realised that Penelope had known about them. "T-Thanks." She muttered uncomfortably.

"I'm so glad you all could make it."

They made their way into the house, slipping into the room where a large coffin sat at the end of the room, chairs arranged before it, some filled and some empty. A picture of Jason sat beside the coffin, something that made Savannah feel numb.

Seeing his face next to a glossy brown coffin just made it all seem worse.

They sat in silence, waiting for the memorial to commence when Savannah finally placed her head on Jughead's shoulder, closing her eyes to calm herself down. She felt like she didn't belong there.

Betty met Jughead's stunned expression and she gestured her head toward the girl. The boy moved to wrap his arm around the girl, pulling her closer to assure her that he was there, despite how awkward it made him feel.

The moment only lasted a few seconds when Archie stood up from his seat along from Betty, moving over to Penelope Blossom with a piece of fabric folded in his hands.

When Archie reached the woman, she looked at him with such longing and grief that he would never understand what she saw in him at that moment.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mrs Blossom." He told her genuinely, "I thought you might want to have this."

Penelope looked down at what he was offering her, recognising it as Jason's football jersey. Her eyes glossed over as she reached a hand toward his cheek, murmuring quietly, "You're so much like him."

Betty turned even more in her seat at the scene, causing Savannah to detach from Jughead and follow Betty's gaze over to where the exchange was taking place. "I get it." She muttered to her friends, "Archie looks so like Jason, it's scary."

The blonde looked at her friend with realisation as the brunette didn't move her eyes from Archie and Penelope, her eyes focused on the former, who reminded her so much of the boy she insisted she felt nothing for.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Penelope suddenly retracted her hand, bringing herself back to reality. "Thank you, Archibald." She took the jersey and held it tightly in her hands, gazing down at it with an emotion that none of the teenagers could understand.

Archie returned to his friends, taking a different seat next to Valerie and in front of Savannah.

"Did she just touch your hair?" Kevin asked, looking conflicted between being disgusted or sympathetic.

"That was really sweet, what you did." Betty shot a look at Kevin and placed her hand on Archie's shoulder.

"She deserves it more than I do."

Veronica approached the group, placing her hand on the top of an oak chair. "Days like today really put things into perspective, huh?" She sat down in front of Valerie. "I mean, at least we're here. At least, we're alive."

Savannah's eyes were alight with disgust and disbelief at Veronica's words, but Betty spoke before she could. "Veronica, don't you think that's a little insensitive?" She glanced between the raven-haired girl and the brunette.

"I didn't mean it like that." Veronica said quickly, her eyes locking onto Savannah, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"

"It's fine. I barely knew him." Savannah told them, firmly.

Veronica nodded solemnly at the girl and turned around to face the front, whilst Savannah let out another deep breath to calm herself.

Betty smiled at her friend, trying not to show her happiness that Savannah hadn't tried to attack Veronica in the middle of a memorial, and retook her hand to show her support. She knew how difficult it must be for her.

The creaking of chairs encouraged the girls to look behind them at what everyone was staring at.

Cheryl Blossom, bathed completely in white bar a red belt wrapped around her slim waist and a pair of red heels on her feet. She moved so gracefully down the middle of the room, very aware of every pair of eyes on her.

Penelope and Clifford moved to take the stage when they saw their daughter approach the podium, not even sparing them a glance as she moved past them.

"Oh my god."

" _Yes._ "

Savannah's eyes were wide as she watched Cheryl defy her parents so boldly. She had never been so proud of that girl in her entire life as she walked so tall and confidently in her stride, determination rolling off her in waves.

"Welcome to Thornhill, thank you all for coming." She spoke calmly, but poised in her stance. "If you'll kindly take your seats. I'd like to start the memorial with a few words about Jason." She removed her gloves as Clifford led his wife over to the two seats at the front.

Savannah caught out of the corner of her eye, Veronica shaking her head at Penelope Blossom, who looked angrier than she had ever been in her life, despite how composed she may appear to others.

"The last time I saw Jason, I was wearing this dress." Cheryl started, looking out at the crowd but not really seeing their faces. "I know it's impossible, but I swear when I put it on, it feels like he's in the room with me."

Savannah's eyes followed Cheryl's as she smiled at the picture of Jason beside the large coffin, decorated with a beautiful array of white and red roses.

"Even though we were twins, I used to demand I have my own birthday party." Cheryl continued, "Until one year, out of the blue, Jason convinced me we had to combine them into one. It wasn't until years later I found out why. It was because no one wanted to come to mine. And Jason didn't want me to know. He protected me." Cheryl started to cry, "Every single day. I wish that day at the river, I had protected him."

Savannah removed her hand from Betty's as Cheryl turned to face the coffin, placing her hands on the glossed cover.

"I'm so sorry, Jay-Jay." Cheryl sobbed to the coffin, where her brother lay within. "We failed you. All of us."

Veronica stood to approach Cheryl, taking the girl into her arms and leading her to an empty seat by their mini stage. Once Cheryl was seated, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the girl who knelt before her. "I'm so sorry."

Penelope took to the stage after her daughter, "I think we'll adjourn for now, to the winter salon for a light supper."

Savannah didn't notice as her two friends, Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones left the room quickly, in the opposite direction of everyone else.

For now, all she cared about, was the girl who was crying into Veronica Lodge's shoulder, trying so hard not to think of the rotting corpse in the coffin behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TEN**

"How are you feeling, Savannah?"

The tip of a glossy black ball-point sat between her two fingers like a cigarette, her thumb pressing down on the button every second or so, to split up the silence. The woman had her left leg crossed atop her right, causing her pencil skirt to rise up her thigh a few inches.

The teenager sitting across from her, upright on a red couch, looked anything other than impressed. Her face had fallen into a sullen scowl as she was forced to take in this lady, with her glasses perched on the tip of her nose and the buttons on her shirt done up to her neck.

"Super." Savannah replied, clearly not feeling very "super".

Ms. Albert was a therapist the school had insisted on Savannah seeing, following the death of her father. They knew all about what had happened in the few months before he had died, and wanted to help the girl.

However, in Savannah's eyes, talking to a complete stranger about her problems, was not helping.

Ms. Albert let out a sigh and moved to the edge of her seat, "I can't help you, Savannah, if you won't let me."

"Maybe I don't need your help." Savannah said honestly, glancing at the clock. "Time's up, Ms. Albert."

"Please, I insist that you call me Kelly." Ms. Albert smiled at the girl.

"And I insist that you don't look at me like your personal project." Savannah shot back, slinging her backpack over her shoulder as she moved to the door, not glancing back as she slid through it.

Savannah felt bad for how she had spoken to the woman who was supposed to help her, but she refused to give Principal Weatherbee the satisfaction. He'd believe that the school had done apart in helping her "recover".

Her feet scuffed the sidewalk as she kicked a stone along with her. Usually, Kyle would pick her up, but he was working, and so she was walking.

After all, she thought, as she watched a familiar face cross the road toward her, every cloud has a silver lining.

"Good morning, my love." She sang as the shaggy haired boy fell into step with her.

Jughead snorted and mumbled a greeting in return. He then cast a look sideways at her and commented, "You look like crap."

"Gee, thanks." Savannah scoffed, self-consciously running a hand through her hair. "I just had to make a 7am therapy session which is a half hour walk from my house. I was not waking up at 5am, so I could "look pretty" for school."

"Ahh," Jughead nodded thoughtfully, "And that's what makes you different from the self-centred, vain girls from school."

"I'm taking that as a compliment." Savannah said, trying to hide her smile as she stared ahead at the ground.

"It was supposed to be."

Betty had invited them for breakfast, knowing that her mother did not approve of Jughead, and that they could use this to their advantage. Alice Cooper didn't really like Savannah either, found her too vocal.

Both of them had fallen for the same boy, who was no good for them.

"Good morning, Mrs Cooper!" Savannah chirped as the woman opened the door.

Alice faked a smile as she opened the door wider for the two, "Please, come in."

Savannah had never liked awkward silences, but the tension that lay blatantly across the table that morning, was amusing. It was obvious that Alice's kindness was not genuine, and whilst they all knew that, it didn't stop the overly nice pleasantries being exchanged.

Like, "These pancakes are amazing!" or "Did you squeeze this orange juice yourself? It is divine.". The majority of which came from the brunette girl, who was watching Alice stare holes into the side of Jughead's face.

"So, _Jughead_." She started, holding her tea up to her mouth. "I suppose we have you to thank for Betty's ongoing obsession with this Jason Blossom ghoulishness." She placed her tea back on the table.

"Actually, Mom." Betty interjected as Jughead continued eating his breakfast. "I was the one who asked Jughead to help me write it for the _Blue and Gold_."

Alice started chuckling at her daughter, "Relax, Betty, I'm just making conversation."

Betty shot a look at Jughead, who was taking a sip of his orange juice, and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

The boy nodded and placed his glass back down. "Do you guys have a bathroom I could use?"

"Sure." Betty smiled at him, moving to stand up. "I'll show you."

"No, no." Alice halted her daughter in her steps. "I'll show him. Follow me, _Jughead_."

As the two turned the corner, Betty snatched up her phone and leapt out of her seat, making straight for her mother's purse.

"Ooh," Savannah whispered as she turned in her seat to watch her friend rifle through the bag. "Little Betty gone rogue."

Betty stifled a snort as she pulled out Alice's cheque book, taking photos with her phone of a few recent payments, before she scurried back over to her seat.

"The Sisters of Quiet Mercy." Betty would later tell them, reading from the photo on her phone.

Jughead typed it into the computer, exchanging a look with Savannah about what they found.

"What is that?" Betty questioned as she moved toward the pair. "Like a church? Or a charity?"

"No." Jughead shook his head, turning to look at his friend. "It's a home for "troubled youths". Where disenfranchised teens will learn such virtues as discipline and respect, enjoying lives of quiet reflection and servitude."

Betty felt her gut clench as she thought of her sister in that place. "Poor Polly."

"We'll get her out, Bets." Savannah assured the blonde with a soft smile. "We will."

* * *

Savannah was jealous.

She couldn't help but pout as Jughead picked up his shoes that he had left by her front door. She didn't like the idea of him and Betty going to meet Polly together, especially when she was about 95% sure that Jughead had a crush on her.

"It sucks that I can't come." Savannah sighed, leaning back against the door frame.

Jughead looked up at her, bent over as he tied the laces on his boots. "Works out though, less people, less suspicion."

Savannah paused, biting her lip anxiously. "Are you sure that's it?"

The boy frowned and double-knotted the bow, switching to his left foot. "What else would it be?"

"I think maybe you have a crush on Betty and you'd rather be alone with her." The words tumbled from Savannah's mouth before she had even processed what she was saying.

Jughead straightened up at that, his frown deepening. "That's not it, Mel, you know I like spending time with you."

Savannah inwardly flinched at his choice of words. "But you love spending time with her?"

He winced, "That's not what I meant, I don't have a crush on Betty, okay?"

"Okay." The brunette nodded, not quite convinced.

Jughead finished knotting his left boot and offered a half-smile. "Tell you what, call me after dinner with your brother, we can meet up at Pop's if you want?"

Savannah forced a smile and moved to open the door for him, "Sure. Talk later."

But as the boy walked out of the house and jumped down the porch steps, Savannah knew, that she would _not_ be calling him tonight.

Then, maybe it was a good thing that _he called_ _her_.


	11. Chapter 11

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **ELEVEN**

Elizabeth Cooper sat in her bedroom, cuddling into one of her stuffed animals.

The girl was reflecting on the events that had taken place that morning. She couldn't get her sister's horrified face as her heart broke into two, as Betty told her sister that the father of her child was dead. _Her child_.

Polly was pregnant - she couldn't get her head around it.

Her arms wrapped around the bear tighter, and she closed her eyes to try and block out the expression on her sister's face when she broke the news.

A knock on the window broke through her thoughts, and she turned to see Jughead at the window.

She forced a smile and slid off the bed to let him in, stepping back to give him space.

"Hey Juliet." He leaned against the pane, "Nurse off duty?"

* * *

"There's a car." Jughead spluttered, as Savannah rushed out of the house less than an hour later, still pulling on a boot as she hopped down the steps. "Polly told Betty about a car that she and Jason planned to run away in."

"Okay." Savannah nodded frantically, "What are we waiting for, let's go?"

"Okay." Jughead agreed, yet he didn't move.

"Jughead?" The brunette questioned, almost impatiently. "What is it?"

He wasn't sure how to tell her, he hadn't meant for it to happen and yet it had. She was the one who had planted the idea in his head and suddenly he had just - "I kissed Betty."

Savannah deflated visibly as the words left his mouth. "Oh."

"It was just for a second and - I don't know, I wasn't sure after you mentioned it last night and I had to check."

The girl cursed herself for even mentioning her suspicions. "And?"

"And nothing." He let out a small laugh, "It was weird - awkward, even. We just kind of laughed it off, I guess? Then Betty remembered the car."

Savannah felt disgusted that she was relieved. She should have been happy for them, teasing them until their cheeks flushed red. But she wasn't - and she didn't. She was happy that he didn't like Betty because it meant that he could like her, and she had never felt so dirty before in her life.

Savannah felt guilty. She had been with Jason for six months, how could she be into Jughead so soon after? Especially after blowing off Jason when he asked her on a proper date.

 _"He cheated on Polly."_

She ignored the voice in her head and offered a smile at Jughead, "Come on, Betty's waiting."

It was pouring with rain by the time that they'd passed the sign that Polly had mentioned, Betty clinging to Savannah's arm with one hand and a flickering torch with the other. Savannah was trying to keep herself warm by rubbing both of her hands up her bare arms.

Jughead moved ahead of them, toward some foliage that looked promising.

"He doesn't like me." Betty whispered to Savannah, absent-mindedly as her eyes followed the boy tugging at the sticks and leaves. "Don't worry."

Savannah frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but Betty had broken away from her and joined Jughead in pulling aplastic cover off the top of what they assumed was the car that Polly had been talking about.

In that moment, Savannah forgot all about Jughead and Betty, for all she could think about was that Polly had been telling the truth. She had hoped that she was lying, that there was no car and that the girl hadn't been waiting on a boy who would never show.

She covered her mouth with her hands as Jughead opened the trunk, exposing the car full of supplies, drugs and... a Riverdale jersey with Jason's name on it.

They couldn't hear her heavy breathing over the rain, and Savannah was glad. She turned away from her friends to try to pull herself together. How was it possible that this boy had just an impact on her, from even beyond the grave?

She wiped her tears away angrily, a shaky breath falling from her lips. She had felt bad for allowing herself to feel for Jughead, for wanting him to feel the same way about her, when the boy she'd spent six months with had been planning to run off with Polly Cooper.

"Wait a minute." Savannah frowned, a sudden thought coming to mind.

She turned to face her friends again, neither had looked in her direction as Betty slapped Jughead's hand away, hissing that the car and everything in it, was evidence.

"Betty." Savannah spoke calmly, although she appeared anything but calm. "Why were Jason and Polly planning to run away together?"

Betty froze, feeling like a deer caught in headlights as she shared a fearful glance with Jughead, who had hoped Savannah wouldn't ask that question.

"Betty." The brunette repeated, she blinked furiously. "Why did he pack a _freaking_ car with drugs in it?" The girl was growing hysterical, stomping over to force Betty to look at her.

The blonde looked at her friend with such pity as she finally let the words escape her mouth. "Because Polly's pregnant."

The only way to describe how Savannah felt in that moment, was as if someone had reached down her throat, grabbed her intestines and proceeded to strangle the life out of her. She couldn't breathe.

As if it came to a surprise for her that Jason was unfaithful to Polly, as if he were incapable of such an act -something she knew to be untrue, she knew that for sure. But Savannah had been sleeping with Polly's boyfriend when she was _pregnant_.

"Savannah..." Betty choked, reaching out to her friend who stared back at her, blankly.

"We need to tell Sheriff Keller." Savannah said, stonily. "You're right, this car is evidence."

And that's what they told him, rushing through the school corridors in complete silence - minus the occasional squeak of a wet sneaker against the floor. Jughead held up his phone, showing the Sheriff pictures of the car that they found.

Savannah watched as Betty's face morphed into one of recognition, her eyes travelling up to the speakers where the soft voice of their friend, Archie Andrews, filtered through.

She allowed herself a second to listen, before she forced herself after the Sheriff and Jughead, not realising that she had left Savannah behind, to take her place.

 _"I'll try. I'll try to let it go."_

Savannah couldn't help but feel like Archie was singing to her, in that moment, for the words that he sang felt far too real to be coincidental.

She didn't chase after Jughead and Betty, but instead found herself wandering into the hall where the red head was singing beautifully, and stood beside Veronica Lodge.

The raven-haired girl glanced over from the boy, to look at the soaking wet girl on the verge of a break down. "Are you okay?"

Savannah said nothing, but she Veronica understood and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in comfort, an act that would change the way that the brunette felt about the Lodge girl.

Little did they all know, as Betty and Jughead ran down the dark hallway toward Polly's room, that the blonde girl, pregnant with Jason Blossom's baby, would be nowhere to be found.


	12. Chapter 12

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TWELVE**

"My mom and dad don't wanna get the police involved." Betty told them, the morning after the Variety show, recalling the night before when they'd found Polly's room empty. "They don't want anyone to know she ran away, or about her shameful condition."

Savannah shared a look with Veronica - something that felt very foreign to her, being on good terms with the girl.

She wanted Polly being pregnant to be a secret for as long as possible. She couldn't stand being stared at as she walked through the hallway, everyone whispering about how she had been the other woman _._

"Please." Veronica broke the eye contact between them and turned her attention to Betty, "What decade is this?"

"Well, since she knew where Jason's getaway car was, they're afraid people might think she burned it and that if she did -"

"- she could be the murderer covering her tracks." Jughead finished for her.

"Who did burn the car then?" Archie asked. The million-dollar question that no one knew the answer to.

"Sheriff Keller says it's possible that someone was following us."

Savannah shivered at the thought.

"Oh my god." Veronica shook her head in disbelief, "Honestly, guys, we - we should just move."

"I'm on board with that." Savannah said quietly, staring down at her shoes.

The group all glanced in her direction before exchanging anxious looks. Archie watched the girl as she let a sigh, masked by the conversation that had been swiftly picked up again.

He remembered when Penelope Blossom had stared at him as if he were Jason and wondered if she felt the same way. The thought had crossed his mind that maybe he was causing the girl unnecessary pain if when every time she looked at him, she saw Jason.

Archie shook the idea from his head and looked over at Betty, "Even though your parents don't want to, maybe you should go to the police."

"Seconded." Kevin said loudly, "We can talk to my dad together about how he has to be discreet."

Jughead frowned and ran a hand through his hair, "No offence, Kev, but your dad answers to a higher authority than God."

"The Blossoms." Savannah voiced her thoughts aloud. "He'd go to them first, they're too powerful."

"And if there's anyone to keep this a secret from, it's the Blossoms." Betty concluded with a sigh, leaning back into the pillows on the couch. "They'd twist it around and go after Polly out of spite."

"How can we help?" Veronica asked her friend, "Tell us, B, we'll do it."

* * *

"Hey, can we talk?"

Savannah had broken into a fast walk when they all left the common room, but clearly, she wasn't fast enough. One of the two that she was trying to avoid had caught up to her in seconds. Damn Jughead and his long legs.

The brunette twirled around to meet him, attempting to keep a neutral look on her face. "What's up, Jug?"

"I'm sorry that we left you behind at the school, we thought you were behind us."

"I was." Savannah said simply, "I chose to stay."

Jughead frowned with confusion, "Why did you choose to stay?"

"Because I have no interest in finding Polly." Savannah told him honestly, not blinking once. "I have no respect for Jason, for Polly, and quite frankly, for myself either."

He opened his mouth to speak but Savannah cut across him.

"It was a damn love triangle, and all of it, was toxic." She breathed, feeling the swirling in the pit of her stomach start to subside as she spoke, the words tasting like smoke as they fell past her lips. "I'm washing my hands of anything to do with Jason Blossom, and that includes his damn baby."

"You don't mean that." Jughead pleaded with her, glancing over his shoulder at where Betty was confiding in Veronica.

Savannah followed his gaze toward the blonde girl and she gave him a soft smile, "At least for right now, I do. It would just hurt Polly to see me."

Jughead turned his attention back to the girl who was starting to walk away from him. He made to go after her, but she stopped suddenly and whirled around to face him again.

She had an odd expression on her face, almost as if she was determined. "Seeing as I'm being completely honest." She paused, debating whether to continue or not. "I like you, Jughead."

"I like you too." Jughead replied instantly, confused.

"No, Jughead." She said slowly, as if to help him understand more clearly. " _I like you_."

He'd always believed himself to know how to react in any scenario, he'd learned after his dad started heavily drinking, leaving him no choice other than to expect the unexpected. But this, her, Savannah, was unexpected - and he had no idea what to say.

Savannah smiled widely at him, let out a little laugh of relief and continued on down the hallway, taking a more leisurely stroll as opposed to her previous ankle-breaking pace.

Jughead was ashamed that he let her walk away, and watched as she disappeared round the corner, probably on her way to Chemistry. They were no longer partners. Their teacher had given them all new partners, perhaps thinking it make it easier on Cheryl if everyone had a new one.

* * *

She had meant it. Honestly and truly.

Savannah sat on the couch beside her brother, attempting to throw popcorn into his mouth, failing miserably. She had missed the days when they'd have fun, doing silly things that brothers and sisters would do, like having movie days.

Their cheerful atmosphere, however, was suddenly shattered when Hal and Alice Cooper appeared on their TV, Petty lingering behind them.

Alice Cooper pleaded with everyone not to believe what was being spread - thanks to Cheryl's tweets - about Polly being Jason's killer. Savannah had rolled her eyes and tried to ignore it all, until the woman announced to their quaint little town that Polly was pregnant. With Jason Blossom's baby.

Kyle's eyes locked onto the TV with horror, rolling off the couch and crawling over to the screen where he continued to stare, wide-eyed.

"Oh my god."

"Yeah." Savannah mumbled from the couch, hugging the pillow that she'd earlier hit him with.

 _She had meant it_. Savannah wanted nothing to do with Jason _or Polly._

Otherwise, she'd _lose her mind_.


	13. Chapter 13

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTERS | **THIRTEEN**

The cool liquid tasted metallic on her tongue, reminding her of the many times she'd bitten through the tip, blood flowing between her teeth and down her throat. She felt as if she were drowning, the cement steps leading to her house felt rough against her bare thighs.

Her legs stretched out in front of her, black converse donning her feet, standing out against the pyjama shorts and loose shirt that she wore. White fluffy socks poked out from her shoes, the thickness felt like there was no blood flowing to her feet, that they were blue.

Kyle had picked up a McDonalds on the way home from work, and of course, Piper was in the passengers seat beside him, taking long licks from her icecream, already having wiped the chocolate sauce away.

Savannah had accepted a coke and ventured out to the front porch, unable to watch her so-called best friend and her brother be so openly in love, exchanging sweet kisses and brushes of finger tips in the kitchen.

It made her feel sick, as if they were taunting her with something that she couldn't have.

Jason hadn't been the first boy in her life, she'd been the object of affection of a few boys before. They'd been quick, harmless romances where she'd fallen fast, swooned, and grown tired.

Everything would have been going well. Until one day she'd wake up and feel the lurch of something unsettling in her stomach, a feeling she could clearly distinguish from the flurry of butterflies that had once made her giddily kick her legs like a child.

It was as if she were cursed, doomed to never let herself fall in love.

She had pegged it down to her parents. They'd never really shown their affections in the house, she'd never witnessed a kiss or even a smile in each other's direction. Screams had filled their household, the threat of a knife in her mother's hand while her father laughed in return.

And then, the next night, they'd watch a movie together, on opposite sides of the living room, each in an armchair, the large couch laying ignored in the centre.

Their love for each other had long fizzled out, if it had even existed in the first place, and their children remained to be the final thing they had in common.

At least, Savannah had thought, proven wrong by her mother's severe reaction to her husband's death. The woman in question, at that moment, lay upstairs in her bed, hugging a half-empty bottle of vodka.

"Bad time?" A voice roused her from her thoughts, Savannah looked up to see a familiar boy standing in front of her, almost sheepishly.

He hadn't been sure whether he should come, had taken too many right turns, going in circles until he ended up outside her door. The music in his ears had been shudderingly loud, so much so that when he'd finally released his eardrums from the torment, he could feel them pulsing in the music's absense.

"Of course not." Savannah told him with a half-hearted smile, setting her coke down underneath her thigh, feeling the straw against the underside of her leg when she shifted over to make room.

Jughead sat down next to her, leaving a decent amount of space between them, feeling unsettled by the awkwardness between them. He'd tried phoning since her confession in the school, but he'd hung up before the second ring.

 _"Chicken."_ He'd called himself, throwing his phone against his makeshift bed in a forgotten school closet.

Savannah watched with an amused gaze as his internal monologue continued, fighting with himself about what he was going to say. "So... I suppose you're here to say what you couldn't on the phone."

Jughead looked up and met her eyes, startled by her bluntness. "You mean -"

"That I did see your name pop up on my phone, _numerous_ times, before it disappeared far too quickly? Yeah," Savannah nodded, before adding, "I'm not a detective, but... that wasn't exactly hard to decipher, Jughead."

The boy laughed uncomfortably, "Sorry." His feet slid across the path, his boots scraping against the loose rocks and dirt that coated the grey surface. "I didn't know what to say."

"And do you now?" Savannah asked. She felt calm, as if she was in control, had the reigns on the situation that was unfolding in front of her.

"No." Jughead admitted, glancing up from his scuffed boots to look at her, she'd never looked away from him.

He studied her face like it would be the last time he'd see her.

She was beautiful. Not stunningly gorgeous like Cheryl or Veronica, but not girl-next-door pretty like Betty Cooper. She carried herself with confidence, the single factor that turned heads and caught second glances.

Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, tendrils falling around her slightly chubby face, almost like she hadn't dropped all the baby fat when puberty hit. A mole sat at the base of her neck, standing out so sharply against her pale, white skin. Skin which looked blue in some lights, her veins so bright and bags under her eyes so dark.

Savannah Clarke held many secrets behind her tormented eyes. She'd lost a parent so young, and experienced things so tragic - that, Jughead could see clearly.

For it was something that they unfortunately had to share, except, the latter of which still had two parents breathing - one just wasn't there.

"Jughead?" Savannah said again, the boy hadn't realised she was speaking to him. "Did you hear what I said?"

Jughead ran a hand through his hair and tore his eyes from her chocolate brown ones, "Uh no, I didn't." He closed his eyes as if to gather his thoughts, "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said we could just forget I even mentioned anything." Savannah suggested, finally looking away from him and staring at a particularly long blade of grass, shuffling and feeling the straw of her drink brush against the underside of her thigh.

"I don't want to." Jughead said quickly, surprising even himself.

The brunette turned to face him sharply, one eyebrow raised as if she were questioning him. She was.

"It's just," Jughead let out a sigh, holding his chin up with both of his hands. "You're amazing."

It was as if she could read his mind, "But?"

The dark haired boy moved one of his hands down to his side, resting on the edge of the cool step, the other still supporting his head as he met her curious gaze. "You're hurting, and I know you keep saying that you're fine, but I know you're not."

"Okay." Savannah nodded slowly, "I didn't realise I was asking you to be my boyfriend."

Jughead frowned, "You weren't?"

"No?" Savannah laughed lightly, "I am cursed, my dear Jughead."

"How so?"

"I've had a good few boyfriends, each one as sweet and as kind as the next, but I'd still wake up one day with this sickening feeling and I'd know that was it. It was over, just like that." She clicked her fingers, a demonstration of how quickly she'd resent them.

Jughead didn't say anything else, merely wondered how many layers there was to this girl that he hadn't seen. How many skeletons she had hidden away in her closet.

"I didn't say I wanted anything to change, Jughead." Savannah told him, firmly. "I just wanted to be honest, get the weight off my shoulder, be free. I don't want anything from you."

He merely nodded, and Savannah leaned over to him. With every inch she grew closer, he felt his heart pick up, aware of her warm minty breath on his cheek as she pressed a soft kiss to the skin there.

He could see her eyelashes flutter as she pulled away from him; could smell the floral perfume that she was wearing, slightly faded from when she'd applied it that afternoon after gym class.

"Goodnight, Jughead." She whispered softly, picking up her paper cup and standing to make her way inside.

It was in that moment that Jughead realised that he didn't want her to go.

Maybe she didn't want anything to change, but he did.


	14. Chapter 14

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **FOURTEEN**

He was screwed, Jughead realised, as he watched the group of girls sitting in the common room at school. He had been talking to Archie outside about his dad, when he glanced through the door window, to see her.

She had her hair down in loose curls and wore gold around her eyes, bringing out the flecks of amber amongst the deep brown. Her lips were painted a faint red, leaving a print on the green straw that protruded from a clear Starbucks cup.

She'd always liked her caramel frappuccinos.

"I don't want Polly to run away." Betty sighed, confiding in her two friends. "But if she can't live at home, then I don't know. I can rent her an apartment?"

"Let me talk to my mom." Veronica held a perfectly manicured finger up to Betty, the gears in her head grinding together furiously.

"No." Betty protested.

"Yes." Veronica insisted.

"You have your own stuff that you're dealing with right now, V." Betty told her friend with a shake of her head.

"I'd offer," Savannah piped up, setting down her cup on the table and crossing her legs. "But we all know that would be extremely awkward and uncomfortable for me and Polly to be under the same roof."

Veronica wasn't finished, "Betty, Polly needs doctors. She needs prenatal vitamins -"

"She needs her family." Cheryl interrupted dramatically, drawing the attention over to her. "Betty, can I have a moment?"

Savannah and Veronica shared a curious look as Betty let out a sigh and stood up, sending a _save me_ look in their direction before leaving with Cheryl.

"Think she'll kill her?" Savannah asked bluntly, picking up her cup once more and darkening the imprint of her lipstick.

"If she does, let's hope she's merciful."

"Hmm." Savannah nodded along thoughtfully.

Veronica frowned and then turned to the brunette sharply, "What are you doing tonight?"

"Other than binging ice cream, not much." Savannah told the girl, staring down the straw to see ice clogging up the end. "Why?"

"Kevin and I are going clubbing." She said excitedly, "Getting back at my mom for stabbing me in the back."

"As you do." Savannah nodded along in agreement.

Veronica shot a half exasperated, half amused look toward the girl before she continued, "Do you maybe wanna come? Get your mind off everything?"

It was a strange turn of events, considering that less than a week ago, Savannah would bristle when Veronica even took in a single breath. Although, if nothing else, there was one thing that Riverdale was good at, and that was familiar dynamics changing severely in such little time.

Savannah could vouch for that.

She pursed her lips in thought, white teeth grazing her painted red lips. "Okay." Savannah agreed, self-consciously wiping her teeth. "Yeah, okay." She nodded with a half-laugh, "What the hell, right?"

Veronica smiled and nodded in agreement, as if she had achieved something. She leant back into the seat, feeling rather content as they waited for Betty to return.

* * *

It was official, Savannah decided.

She had no clothes that seemed appropriate club wear. Her cupboard was full of worn grungy t-shirts and black jeans, long-sleeved shirts and one black skater skirt.

With a sigh, she pulled out a plain black long-sleeved shirt and threw it down next to the skirt, making a frown at the combo. She'd stand out like a sore thumb against Josie and Veronica, both looked like they'd strutted out of a fashion magazine.

Fortunately for her though, Savannah had a mother who was never out of clubs, bars or anywhere she could rock a dress too short. It almost made her disgusted when she ventured into her room to find her mother missing.

Savannah skirted past the piles of clothing on the floor, hopping over a discarded pair of heels. She pulled open her mother's wardrobe with a sigh, not quite believing that she was sinking that low.

Somehow, she managed to come away with a few items that she was sure she could fit into, and that didn't pose a threat of accidental flashing.

And when Veronica and Josie arrived at her house, the two of them cheering as they hung out the side of a taxi, Savannah felt confident and comfortable in her skin.

She'd settled on her own black jeans, a pair of slightly heeled combat boots and a loose silver top that she'd fished from her mother's risque clothing.

Savannah slid into the back next to Veronica, the girl realising that she didn't know Josie all that well, nor did she speak to Kevin that often. She shook it off, telling herself that new experiences brought new opportuniries, and maybe this was one of them.

Josie flashed a bright smile from the front, tossing a compliment over her shoulder and instructing the driver on where to go next.

"We're meeting Kevin there." Veronica told Savannah. She looked gorgeous in a simple glittery crop and a black skirt.

Savannah simply nodded and licked her naked lips anxiously. "Is it just us four?"

Veronica shook her head with a devilish smile, "Maybe I brought a piece of eye candy along for the ride."

The brunette cast a glance in the other girl's direction as Josie leaned over from the front, a smirk on her lips. "Oh god. Who?"

It was Josie who spoke, impish mischief evident on her face. "Reggie."

Savannah's mouth popped open in disbelief and she stared at Veronica, " _Really? He's_ your eye candy?"

Veronica merely shrugged and her eyes flittered over to the window, taking in their surroundings. "We're here!" She almost sang, excitedly.

The three clambered out of the taxi, Veronica handing over what Savannah assumed was her mother's credit card, before sauntering ahead into the club.

The bouncer wanted to stop them at the door, but with a flash of a smile and the slip of a couple dollar bills in his front pocket, he let them in. Veronica paid for their entrance and continued on, losing herself in the strobe lights and loud music.

For a club, Savannah thought it was rather quiet as she glanced around, still walking on to meet her friends on the dance floor. Probably due to it being a weekday, most people had school or work and weren't as crazy as they were to be out that late.

Veronica and Josie made for the bar, the latter turning back to wave Savannah on after them. The brunette nodded and waved in return, gesturing that she'd be there in a minute.

Her hand fell to her back pocket, slipping her phone out and into the palm of her hand. She couldn't help but let a slight smile slide across her face as she saw his name pop up on the screen, calling her.

Suddenly, a set of hands landed on her shoulders, startling the girl into locking her phone instantly, rejecting the call.

Kevin Keller whirled her around to face him, his face was bright and full of excitement. "Hey!" He cried over the music, before he gestured to the boy beside him. "Look who I found."

Savannah looked up at Reggie and offered a smile, to which he smirked back. Always flirtacious was Reggie, a complete pig - but Veronica had one thing right. He certainly was eye candy.

"Hi Reggie." She said before looking over her shoulder to where the girls disappeared to. "The girls are over there, come on."

Veronica looped an arm around Savannah's shoulders and pushed a drink into her hand. It was clear and had two straws popping out the top, floating up to the top.

Savannah pushed the straws back into the liquid and took a hesitant sip. It was strong, she recognised the smell immediately, after all her mother smelled like it each time she had to put her to bed.

Veronica winked at the girl, took her own glass and pushed off from the bar, her and Josie making straight for the middle of the sweaty dance floor.

The brunette had always been slightly uncomfortable when dancing, but after a few drinks encouraged by Veronica and, surprisingly, Kevin, she lost herself in the music. Her hands slid up and through her hair, spinning around as she was dazzled by the lights.

She could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket, ignoring it as Veronica pulled them all into a little huddle, grouping together such an unusual pick of people. It was surprising what a couple of drinks and dancing could do.

Their group became two as Veronica, Josie and Kevin motioned to go and sit at a booth. She and Reggie continued bouncing around on the dance floor, his hand sliding through hers and spinning her like a ballerina.

Savannah could tell that Veronica had planned this whole thing, she'd seen her whisper into the other two's ears, before conveniently _needing_ to sit down.

Reggie wasn't all that bad, she decided, but when she noticed his head turn to check out a girl that passed by them, she couldn't help but scoff.

Her phone started to vibrate once more and this time, Savannah pulled back from Reggie, to find that she had a few texts and a missed call from Jughead. Her heart suddenly sank when she opened his messages.

He'd been with his dad, Archie and Fred Andrews. Savannah knew that his relationship with his father was difficult, although he'd never said much, just that he was a drinker just like her mom.

Instantly, Savannah walked away from the loud music and Reggie, until she found herself outside, bursting through the door for fresh air to fan her face.

Her phone was to her ear in seconds, the familiar rings clouding her mind as she leaned back against the wall for support.

"Hello?"

"Jughead." Savannah blurted out quickly, "Hey, sorry I missed your call."

"It's okay." She heard him say, although she knew it was not okay. "Where are you anyway?"

"Doesn't matter," Savannah avoided the question, biting her lip in thought. "How did it go with your dad?"

"It could have gone better."

Savannah winced at his tone, he was so quiet. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Hey." Reggie appeared from behind her, touching her shoulder lightly. "Who you talking to?"

"Who's that?" Jughead asked on the other end of the phone.

Savannah looked up at Reggie with a frown before answering, "It's Reggie."

There was a beat of silence before Jughead responded. "Oh."

"It's okay, he was just leaving." She said pointedly, shooting a glare at the boy, who rolled his eyes and wandered back inside.

"I'll just see you at school tomorrow." Jughead told her.

"No, Jughead -"

"Talk to you later."

There was a click and Savannah knew that he'd hung up. She cursed Reggie, she cursed Veronica and Josie and Kevin for setting her up. She cursed Jughead for hanging up on her when she was trying to be there for him.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Savannah pushed off from the wall and ventured back into the club.


	15. Chapter 15

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **FIFTEEN**

He hadn't answered her calls that morning.

Savannah had begged Piper to take them into school early that morning and despite the blonde's protests, she found herself roaming the halls a half hour before the bell would ring.

She sought out the Blue and Gold work room, tossing her bag down on one of the desks with a sigh. Having searched the rest of the school for him, she'd relented, deciding to wait for him to find her.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and Savannah pulled it out, relieved to see that she had a text from him, Jughead.

 _Where are you? Saw Piper in the hallway. - Jughead._

She smiled softly and quickly shot back a reply, only to look up and find a horrific sight.

Principal Weatherbee and Sheriff Keller were stood by the door, the latter's eyes were locked onto their murder board. She swallowed thickly.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes." Principal Weatherbee responded cooly, the two of them moving further into the room, the Sheriff inspecting their board further. "Where is Mr. Jones?"

"Why?" Savannah couldn't help but ask, almost rudely.

The Principal looked at her in disappointment, but the Sheriff responded. "That's none of your concern, Miss. Clarke."

Savannah glared at the man, her eyes flittering across their murder board. Did it look suspicious? Of course it did.

"Awfully interested over there, Sheriff."

"Miss. Clarke!" The Principal said firmly, his eyes full of warning.

The Sheriff looked at the girl over his shoulder, "My own board was just like this."

"Hmm." The girl murmured thoughtfully, "Guess Keller's think alike."

Sheriff Keller frowned at her, before back at the board, knowing that he had been involved in their detective work. "Someone broke into my house and stole the evidence. Wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

Savannah slid further back onto the table, crossing her legs and resting her elbows atop her jean-clad thighs. "If I did, it would be right there on that board."

The Sheriff turned away from the board, moving a few steps closer to her. "You were close to Jason Blossom, weren't you?"

Savannah smiled sweetly, "Should I get a lawyer, Sheriff?"

It was at that moment that Jughead appeared at the door, throwing down his own bag and assessing the situation with a pit in his stomach. "Hey." He greeted the three. "Whats up?"

"I'm gonna need you to come down to the station with me." The Sheriff said to him, casting a glance back at the enraged girl.

"Based on what evidence?" She cried, jumping down from the desk.

"Miss. Clarke!" Principal Weatherbee snapped, his eyes alight with anger. "My office."

Savannah's eyes narrowed, but she picked up her bag all the same. As she passed by Jughead, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, leaving the room with the Principal hot on her tail.

She could tell that everyone was staring at her and Principal Weatherbee as they passed, but the attention would shift when they saw Jughead and Sheriff Keller leaving the school. He'd asked Betty and Archie to call his dad, and without another word, he was gone.

* * *

Principal Weatherbee had wanted to give her lunchtime detention for how she had spoken to authority, but she'd pleaded for it after school. She had a study period next and planned on racing to the police station as soon as he'd let her out of his office.

She'd have to miss Chemistry, but prayed that her partner would let her copy their notes.

Betty and Archie were already there, along with Archie's dad, who was speaking to the Sheriff.

"What's going on?" Savannah asked Betty, who simply let out a sigh and shrugged. "Is he okay, did you speak to him?"

"Yeah." Betty nodded. "They're questioning him because he spent time in Juvy when he was younger."

"He did?" Savannah gaped in disbelief. "What did he do?"

"They said he tried to burn down the elementary school." Betty scoffed, shooting daggers at the back of Sheriff Keller's back. "He said he was playing with matches. He was young, they can't seriously blame him for that."

"That's circumstantial evidence." Savannah said firmly. "They can't pin this on him because of something he did years ago."

Betty shook her head, "They said that the football team was bullying him. Guess who was on the football team?"

Savannah let out an exasperated sigh, "Jason. So now he has a motive."

"Exactly."

Praise Fred Andrews, Savannah had inwardly cheered when he insisted that Jughead had been working construction for him over the summer, when she knew that he hadn't. Jughead had spent most of his time at Pop's, she'd seen him.

He was released all the same and Savannah had jumped on him before he'd taken two steps.

"I'm sorry!" She cried, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "I didn't know they would show up, if I did, I would have warned you."

"They would have found me anyway." Jughead murmured, very aware of the group watching them. "It's not your fault."

Savannah nodded and stepped back, taking Betty's outstretched hand.

They all left the police station together, Sheriff Keller watching as Savannah cast a glance behind her. She'd been put on their radar now, he'd be watching her. He knew about her relationship with Jason and now he'd seen her with Jughead.

It could be twisted into some kind of tragic love triangle. Or square, rather.

"Jughead!" She heard a man shout. He was scruffy, bleary eyes and was wearing clothes that were creased, as if they were slept in. "Sorry, I came as soon as I got your message."

This was Jughead's dad.

"My phone, the freaking battery. I forgot to plug it in last night." He awkwardly laughed, "What the hell happened?"

"Nothing." Jughead said quickly, causing Savannah and Betty to frown at him. "It's fine now. Mr. Andrews took care of it."

"What jacked up crap did they accuse you of in there, huh?" FP Jones pointed a dirty finger at the police station, "Those bastards trying to throw you in jail like they did your old man? Well, screw that!"

His voice echoed around the square.

"I'll rip Keller a new one for trying to pull that on you -"

Fred Andrews moved in front of FP, holding him back, "FP, settle down."

"Hey! Hey!" FP pushed him back roughly, yelling, "He's my son! He is my son, Fred! You'd do the same for your boy!" He pointed at Archie.

Jughead reached out for his father, grasping onto the front of his shirt and stopping him in his tracks. "Dad. Don't make things worse. Please."

As his hand slipped from FP's shirt, the man nodded solemnly, shaken back into reality by his teenage son.

"Yeah. Yeah, alright then." He started to move away from the group, "You, uh? You coming home with me?"

Savannah couldn't help but frown at his choice of words. Where else would he go? Had he been staying somewhere else?

"He - He can stay with us, Mr. Jones." Archie told the man, "We already offered."

"Is that what you want?" FP asked his son, who had a blank expression on his face. "Maybe that's for the best, if - if you don't mind, Fred."

Fred Andrews was looking at Jughead, his eyes locked onto the boy who had such an unfortunate upbringing and that part of it was because of him. "Whatever you want, FP. It's between the two of you."

Jughead. The boy who wished to be no burden on anybody, muttered, "I'll - I'll go with you, dad."

He passed by then, walking toward his father, who planted his hands soundly on his shoulders.

Savannah couldn't hear what FP Jones said to his son, but she supposed that was for the better. That they didn't need to hear the words that were exchanged between a father and son, the bond between them so tattered and broken, and yet they'd still do anything for each other.

They hugged and FP walked away from his son, leaving him in the capable hands of what was now, his family.


	16. Chapter 16

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **SIXTEEN**

Savannah lay on her stomach, a book propped up in her hands, while Jughead sat on the floor, his back against the edge of the bed, his laptop on his lap.

They sat, listening to a playlist that Savannah had put on; the rhythmic typing of fingers against a keyboard; and the occasional sound of a page turning.

The girl licked her lips in thought, eyes tearing away from the line she was reading to glance down at the boy who always wore a beanie. A soft smile tugging at her features.

In one fluid movement, she flipped off the bed into a position where she was sitting right next to him, her shoulder brushing against his.

Jughead looked at the girl, startled. "Hello?" He asked, very aware of how his bare forearm was less than an inch away from hers, electricity crackling through his veins.

"I got lonely."

Was all she said.

* * *

"Why do you have to go?" Savannah pouted, hours later, when Jughead stood at her front door pulling his shoes on.

"I have to help Archie's dad, his whole crew pulled out and there's no one who'll help him." Jughead explained, leaning down to do the laces on his boots.

"Really?"

It wasn't Savannah that spoke, but her brother, Kyle, who had appeared at the kitchen door. He had his arms crossed, his face furrowed in thought.

Jughead turned to look at the boy, they hadn't really spoken before, only nodded to each other in passing. "Yeah, Clifford Blossom is trying to screw Mr. Andrews over."

"Count me in." Kyle said, going back into the kitchen to let Piper know that he'd be leaving.

Savannah smiled at Jughead, who looked surprised that the boy was willing to help. She knelt down on the floor and finished tying the knot that he had abandoned.

They were so close, Jughead watched as she double knotted the bow and looked up at him, their noses centimetres apart.

"There." She said, quietly, her warm breath fanning his face. He could smell the strawberry bonbons that she had eaten earlier, nearly cracking her tooth on a particularly hard one.

Savannah straightened up and leaned back against the staircase, holding onto the railing with one hand.

The two came out of the kitchen, the blonde looking put out that her boyfriend was leaving, and the other looked determined. They had been arguing, she noticed, from the tear marks that had been hastily wiped away from Piper's eyes.

"I'm just gonna change." Kyle muttered to Jughead, not meeting his sister's curious gaze as he raced up the stairs to his room.

Savannah had her eyes locked onto Piper, who was staring at the floor. "Look after my brother, will you?" She asked the dark haired boy, before taking the hand of her friend and leading her into the living room.

"Sure." Jughead replied to empty air, his eyebrows furrowed as he waited for Kyle to return.

They didn't talk for a while, even after the front door had slammed shut, letting them know that Kyle had left. Savannah had put on a sad movie, the Notebook, how clique, and pulled Piper into her arms.

It was about an hour after that she spoke, after Savannah had brought back a bowl of popcorn and two glasses of lemonade.

"I kissed someone else." She had said.

"What?" Savannah simply murmured, the shock rendering her body motionless. "Who?"

"Ryan." Piper dissolved into a puddle of tears once more, "I told Kyle a couple of days ago and he can't even look me in the eye."

"I wonder why." Savannah practically snapped, unable to help herself. "What were you thinking?"

"I don't know!" Piper wailed, "I was thinking about college and how my whole life, I've wanted nothing more than to go to Oxford University."

"Why exactly did that make you want to kiss someone else?" Savannah asked bluntly, her eyes narrowed in anger. "And cheat on my brother, might I add."

"I know nothing I say will excuse it." Piper mumbled solemnly, she was wringing her wrists in her lap. "I know that I messed up, okay? I'm just trying to save my relationship."

"Good luck with that." Savannah said sharply, pushing the bowl of popcorn into Piper's lap and standing up to turn the TV off, "I think you should go."

"No, Savannah, please." Piper stood up, pleading. "Please, don't be mad at me."

"What do you want me to say?!" Savannah exploded, her fists balled up in rage. "First, you drop me _for my brother!_ And now you cheat on him, expecting him to forgive you?"

Piper had tears flowing down her cheeks freely, "It's not like that, please!"

"Get out." Savannah scoffed, throwing the remote down onto the couch and storming into the kitchen.

It was five minutes later that Savannah heard the door shut. She assumed that Piper had been waiting in the living room, hoping that she'd return, but she didn't.

It was another two when she heard the door open again, her voice being called out from the hallway.

"I told you to get out!" Savannah flung open the door to face her, only to see her panic-striken face and her phone that had dropped to the floor. "What is it?"

"Kyle."

* * *

When they arrived at the construction sight, Savannah was out of the car before Piper had even turned the ignition off. She was crouched in front of her brother, who held a pack of ice to his cheek, hand holding his stomach.

"Who did this?" The brunette growled, whirling around to face the Sheriff, who looked less than pleased to see her.

"We don't know." He replied calmly, "Vandals, most likely."

"Oh please." She scoffed, "We all know that's a load of rubbish, you just don't want to look at the real perpetrator."

"And who might that be?"

"Clifford Blossom." Jughead filled in the blanks, "Like we just told you."

Savannah turned back to her brother, ignoring the voices she heard behind her. "We need to take you to the hospital."

"No." Kyle shook his head, wincing as he did so. "No, I'm fine, honestly."

"You're going to the hospital, Kyle." Savannah said firmly, "You could have a concussion or internal bleeding. They hit you with a crowbar for godsake."

"I'll drive." Piper offered from behind them, keeping her distance.

Savannah saw Kyle shake his head and she narrowed her eyes, "No, Piper. You've done enough."

Jughead watched as Piper closed her eyes sadly, before nodding and making her way back to her car. As the headlights came on and she started to reverse out of the construction sight, he recalled how upset she had looked back at the Clarke household.

Just what had she done?

"Since you've been no other help," Savannah stood up and turned to Sheriff Keller, "You can take us to the hospital."

* * *

" _Where the hell have you been_?" Savannah screeched when Kyle wandered back into their house, "I went into mom's room to tell her what happened and suddenly, you're gone, huh? Where did you go?"

"Southside." Kyle muttered, "Some bar."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Savannah snapped, moving closer to him. "Why would you go to the Serpent's territory?"

"I went to see if I could recognise any faces, to see who was screwing with Archie's dad." Kyle told her, his feathers unruffled.

"And did you?" She prompted.

"No."

"Great." Savannah scoffed, slapping her hand against his shoulder. "So it was a waste of time and you're still hurt."

"Learned something though." Kyle smirked almost sadistically.

"What?"

"Your precious boyfriend, Jughead." He almost taunted, an act that was uncharacteristic for Kyle Clarke. "His dad's a Serpent."


	17. Chapter 17

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **SEVENTEEN**

"Are you okay?" Savannah asked Betty the next morning, watching as the blonde applied a layer of pink lipstick over her lips.

"No." Betty sighed, putting down her lipstick and pressing her lips together. "Polly won't answer my calls or emails. I mean," She paused to swirl around in her chair, "I understand that she doesn't want to talk to my dad, but what did I do?"

"I don't know, B." Savannah offered a sad smile, picking up the nickname that Veronica had for their friend. "But we'll figure it out, okay? There's a reason for everything."

Betty nodded, determined.

"Up and at 'em!" Alice Cooper declared as she threw open the door, sauntering into the room. "Breakfast is ready."

"I'm not hungry." Betty insisted, sharing a look with Savannah, who merely shrugged in response.

"Oh, enough is enough, Elizabeth." Alice practically sighed, exhausted with her daughter's behaviour. "We have a big week ahead of us. The Blossoms have always been a thorn in our side ever since, according to your milquetoast father, Great-Grandpappy Blossom killed Great-Grandpappy Cooper. Well," She started folding some of Betty's clothes. "It's about time someone brings them to heel."

Savannah stuck her tongue out at Betty, behind Alice's back, to which the blonde bit her lip in an attempt not to smile.

"I'm writing a searing, no-holds-barred take-down of their clan."

"And you think that's going to bring Polly home?" Betty asked in disbelief.

"Maybe, maybe not." Alice placed Betty's, now folded, sweater back on her futon. "But it'll make me feel better. Word has it that the Blossom board of trustees has descended on Riverdale like some cabal of vampires. Why? Now that's a story."

Savannah shrugged and commented, "You do you, Ms. Cooper. Bring down the fearsome Blossoms."

Alice Cooper smiled an almost genuine smile before leaving the two girls in Betty's room.

"Why must you encourage her."

"Eh, why not? Things were getting too boring around here."

* * *

"Is it true?" She had asked the next day, the two of them sitting at a bench, her hands clasped in front of her atop the table. "About your dad, I mean."

"That he's a Serpent?" Jughead asked her, to which she nodded. "Yeah, but he said he didn't kill Jason Blossom, and I believe him."

"Okay." Savannah nodded simply, picking up her burger and continuing to demolish it.

Jughead frowned in confusion, "Is that it?"

"Yep."

"Uh, okay." The dark haired boy picked up his own burger, taking a hesitant bite whilst watching the girl, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Savannah tapped her phone before spitting out her burger in a hurry, "We're late."

"For what?" Jughead asked, his mouth still full of burger and bun. A piece of lettuce fell from his mouth.

"Attractive." Savannah scowled at the boy before jumping up and taking ahold of his wrist, "Veronica wanted us to meet them in the common room like ten minutes ago."

"Since when are you and Veronica friends?" Jughead chuckled, allowing Savannah to pull him along the hallway.

"Gosh, keep up." Savannah told him, her voice full of mirth. "Have you not learned that nothing stays the same in Riverdale?"

They burst into the common room, interrupting something that Archie was saying. The two stood there for a moment before breaking apart and sitting in seats away from each other. Veronica's eyes lingered on Savannah's hand.

"Just in time." She smirked at Savannah before looking to Jughead, "We're celebrating."

"Archie was just telling us about how he's going to some super-exclusive music program." Kevin filled them in, everyone watching as Archie tried to hold in his grin.

"Maybe." Archie butted in, "If it happens, though, it'd be super huge for me."

"Do you have to audition for it?" Jughead asked from his position, perched on the edge of Betty's seat.

"Not exactly." Archie shook his head, "Mrs. Blossom came by earlier and said she'd put a good word in for me."

Savannah spat out the tea that she had been drinking, given to her by Veronica, who slid away from the girl with surprising speed. _"What?"_ She choked, taking a napkin from the dark haired girl, "Mrs. Blossom? Why are you talking to, as Kevin once put it, Madame Satan?"

Veronica rolled her eyes at the mention of her little nickname.

"Uh huh." Jughead nodded in thought, "What's she getting out of it?"

"I told her I'd take Cheryl to their family's tree-tapping thing." Archie admitted, his eyes glued to his packet of tortilla chips. "I already talked to Valerie, she's cool with it."

"Cool with you being a gigolo?" Jughead sassed, to which Savannah snorted. He grinned at her and she smiled in return - something that did not go amiss by Kevin and Veronica, who shared a suspicious look.

"I'm doing someone a favour for my music, Jughead." Archie said, his eyebrows furrowed in irritation. He didn't understand how his friend couldn't be more supportive. "I need to make connections outside of Riverdale."

"That's the way of the world." Veronica told them, taking a sip of her coffee. "It's all about connections, but Jughead's right. These kinds of favours always come with a price tag. Betty, back me up here."

"I think it's a great idea." Betty admitted, looking sheepishly between her two female friends, who looked affronted.

"Thank you, Betty."

"Yeah, and while you're there, would you talk to Polly for me?"

Savannah snickered into her tea, "There it is." She muttered to Kevin, who nodded in agreement.

"I just wanna make sure she's okay." Betty smiled at Archie.

"Definitely." Archie assured her with a smile of his own, "And don't worry, Ronnie. I can take care of myself."

Veronica pointed a skewer of watermelon in his direction, "Famous last words, Archiekins."

"I like that nickname." Savannah announced, her eyes locked onto Archie. "It's adorable, just like you." She reached over Kevin to pinch his cheek, before taking out her phone and changing his contact name.

Kevin shook his head in amusement at the girl, "What's my contact name?"

"Kevin." Savannah said, simply, putting a little music note next to Archie's name.

"Wow, that boring?"

"I put a little clapperboard next to it for you."

"Gee, thanks."

* * *

It was a Friday morning when Savannah skipped into school, looking forward to the weekend. She did had the late shift that night at Pop's, but if she looked past that, then all she saw was a weekend of bonding with her brother, who had been spending less time with Piper.

She hadn't seen her mother in over a week, only catching glimpses of her unconscious body through the crack in her door. She couldn't even remember what it was like to talk to her mother, couldn't recall her voice.

"Oh my god, did you hear?" Kevin exclaimed from across the hall from her, speaking to Betty and Veronica.

Savannah closed her locker and closed the space between them, "About what?" She asked, her face matching the other girls' curious ones.

"Remember when you went swooping in to save Ethel because you thought she might be suicidal?"

"Oh no." Veronica's face paled and she looked slightly green, "No, she didn't -"

"No, but her dad did." Kevin broke the news, watching as Veronica grasped onto her locker for support, feeling her knees buckle under her. "He accidentally swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills. He's going to be okay, but, that's why Ethel's been so sad."

Veronica couldn't hear anymore. She pushed past her friends, the ringing in her ears was deafening, trying to escape the voices that swirled around her.

Betty took off after her friend immediately, leaving Kevin and Savannah standing there in shock.

"Is she okay?" Savannah asked Kevin, who looked rather grim.

"Ethel's dad invested in Veronica's dad's company." He started to explain, "So when he was arrested, their family lost everything. Along with countless others."

"Oh no." Savannah cast a glance in the direction that her friend had disappeared in. "You said Ethel's dad was going to be okay?"

"He is." Kevin confirmed, lifting the mood slightly. "Poor Ethel."

"It seems like every family in this town is starting to fall apart." Savannah said, solemnly, with a sigh. "Luckily, mines did before Jason's death."

Kevin frowned, growing worried for his friend, "What happened?"

Savannah pursed her lips in thought, unsure whether to tell him or not. "Oh, uh, it's just..." She let out another sigh and muttered, "My mom was cheating on my dad, she told him right before he died."

He didn't say anything but placed a hand on Savannah's shoulder in support, pulling her in for a comforting hug.

Following their conversation, Savannah left school early, not caring that the school would phone home, it's not like there was anyone there to answer. Her mother was in an alcohol-induced coma and Kyle was at work.

She found herself knelt in front of Jason Blossom's grave, her eyes glistening as they fell over the words engraved on his tombstone.

Her fingers, shakily, grazed the words, feeling the bumps under the tips. They stopped on the word _friend._ Is that what he had been to her? A friend?

It felt so impersonal for him to be described as a friend. He'd helped her to forget the pain of her father's death and what had come before it. He replaced the ache in her heart with a different kind of longing, one that he also shared.

Despite her betrayal to a girl that she barely knew, she couldn't help but return to Jason each time, finding that slipping into his bed was as easy as breathing.

It had been so long since she had been at his house, it felt odd to think that the time before last, she had been sneaking down the cobblestone path in her bare feet, only for Jason to come chasing after her.

He'd placed a soft kiss on her lips and whispered a goodnight that send goosebumps down her spine.

She had tried so hard to forget him, she'd been pushing him out of her mind by surrounding herself with her friends, by listening to their problems so that she would forget her own.

That she had been in love with Jason Blossom and everyone, but she, had known it.


	18. Chapter 18

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **EIGHTEEN**

Savannah could feel the snow soaking through her jeans as she knelt there, tears turning her mascara into lines of black that ran down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Her voice broke as she spoke, her breath like smoke against the bitter air. "I'm so sorry that it took me this long to come here." She sniffled, "I'm sorry that I treated you like you were nothing to me because you weren't, you were so much more."

Her heart ached as she sat back on her heels, lightly touching the red roses that across his grave.

"I'm sorry that I never told you that I cared, that it took me so long to realise how much you meant to me. I'm sorry that I tried to pretend you had never existed, you deserved so much more than that."

"He forgives you." A sweet voice came from behind her.

"Cheryl." Savannah croaked, her throat hoarse from crying. "I'm trespassing, I know."

"This is a graveyard." Cheryl said simply, kneeling down in her dress beside the girl. "You can pay your respects any time you wish."

Savannah looked at the girl, dressed in red, who stared at her brother's grave like it was happening all over again. "Why are you being so kind to me?"

"Because you just lost the boy you loved." Cheryl consoled the girl with a hand on her shoulder, "You didn't even know it until now. Why now?"

The brunette sniffled and moved to cross her legs, not caring as the snow seeped through the back, the cool liquid harsh against the backs of her thighs. "Kevin and I were talking about death, funnily enough, and I realised that I hadn't been to my father's grave in a while." She paused, her eyes locking onto the tombstone once more, "And then I realised that I'd never come to see Jason."

"I was sorry to hear about your father." Cheryl told the girl, "Not sorry for him, sorry for you."

Savannah frowned at her words and met her gaze, "What are you -"

"I saw the bruises on your arms, the cuts on your knees and your brother's black eyes." Cheryl said simply, the weight of her words not evident in her voice. "Your mother had the same ones. She should have been more careful to hide her relationship from him."

"You - you knew?" Savannah's voice was shaking as she asked, her body starting to react to the sudden harshness of the winter chill.

"I'm good at observing." Chery clarified, taking her hand off the girl's shoulder and standing up. She brushed the snow from her dress and smiled, "We should have dinner sometime. That'd be nice."

Savannah watched as Cheryl wandered back up the path to her house, arms crossed tightly across her stomach, as if something else had plagued her thoughts.

* * *

"So, Clifford Blossom is the reason that Veronica's dad is in jail?"

It was a bitter morning, frost coating the tops of any uncovered surface, laying down its claim over Riverdale.

Two teenagers, one boy and one girl, were walking to school together that one morning. It was a rather special morning, for reasons that one believed and the other ignored, however the facts remained the same.

It was Jughead Jones' birthday, and he was quick to try and forget it.

"That's what Archie heard." Jughead shrugged, attempting to take no notice of the arm that had slipped through the crook of his own. "I don't understand how, though."

"Does Veronica know?" Savannah asked, peeking out from under the knitted beanie she was wearing.

That morning she had skipped out of her house, hat in hand, slapped it across the boy's head and cried, _"Snap!"_. He'd stood there, dumbfounded, before briskly making to catch up with the joyful girl.

"Betty and Archie are telling her now, I think." He disclosed, enjoying the light crunch of the frost under a heavy boot.

"Poor Veronica." Savannah murmured, wondering how the girl would take the news. She'd not been too fond of her father after she learned that Ethel's own tried to take his life. Perhaps she wouldn't care at all.

Except that didn't sound like Veronica Lodge.

"Hey," Savannah stopped suddenly, a frown on her face. "Did Val and Archie break up?"

Jughead quirked an eyebrow at her question, having been hauled to a stop for such a question. "Yeah, why?"

"No reason." The brunette smiled, continuing to walk on, pulling him with her.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Like what?"

"You look like one half of the Weasley twins."

Savannah gasped, her free hand going to her heart. "How dare you bring them up, you know I'm still grieving Fred's death."

"You realise it's been ten years since the last book came out, right?" Jughead drawled.

"Yes, but that was before I fell in love with James Phelps." She swooned, her eyes closing as she thought of her favourite red head. It was less than a beat later that she realised just how wrong she was, with a pang in her heart.

"Whatever you say, Savannah." Jughead said simply, his voice light and suggested that he was far too used to the girl's antics by this point.

As the school loomed over the misty horizon, the two walked in comfortable silence. It seemed like a lifetime ago that they had clashed in the hallway, the girl confessing her feelings for the boy who had been blinded by their friendship.

The weeks passed and she hadn't mentioned it again, though his mind would constantly remind him.

He'd noticed the simple things about her; like how she would tuck her hair behind her left ear, but despised it being behind her right; when she was cold, she would clasp her hands together as if she were praying; and how her smile grew brighter when she laughed.

"Oh!" The girl cried suddenly, letting go of his arm to fetch something from her backpack.

His thoughts were halted as they stopped in the street, the boy waiting in curiosity as she pulled a plastic box out, along with a lighter.

Savannah popped open the box to reveal a vanilla cupcake with sprinkles. She picked up the silver candle that she had tossed in with the box, stuck it in the middle and swiftly lit it.

"Happy one-day-early birthday!" She cried, holding the cupcake out to him. "Make a wish!"

Jughead gaped at first the cupcake and then the girl. "How did you know?"

"A little birdy told me." Savannah winked, pushing the cupcake out once more. "Oh look!" She twisted the bottom of the candle, a very distorted and creepy tune trickled out of the speakers. "Crap." She frowned, "It's supposed to be the birthday song."

"I don't celebrate my birthday -"

"Well I do, blow out the candle." Savannah said, defiantly. "Make a wish."

Jughead scowled at the girl before blowing out the candle and taking the cupcake that she thrust into his hands. "I wished that I could get through my birthday _in peace_."

"Shame." Savannah sang, tossing the box into a nearby bin. "Because you told me, it won't come true."

"Fantastic."

* * *

"Enough about my drama." Veronica had announced at lunch, after she'd been pounced on by Savannah who promptly gave her a supportive kiss on the cheek. "Betty, you were saying something about Jughead's birthday."

"Oh, you all know?" Savannah asked from her position, straddling the back of Veronica. She climbed off the bench and took a seat next to Kevin, who slid half of his sandwich over to her. "I gave him a cupcake today, I know he hates his birthday." She shot a thankful look at Archie, who smiled.

"Well," Betty interjected with a frown, "Mr. Jones told me that Jughead's never had a birthday party." Archie nodded in agreement with that statement. "Let's have one for him. Like, a low-key surprise party."

"Bad idea." Savannah shook her head, to which Archie pointed at her. "Jughead hates being the centre of attention."

"I agree."

"That's a fantastic idea!" Veronica encouraged, ignoring as Archie kept repeating his disapproval.

"Jughead doesn't like his birthday."

"Everybody says that." Kevin chimed in with a wave of his hand, "Nobody means it."

"Jughead is a long wolf." Archie insisted, to which Savannah added a quiet howl that turned into a yelp with a glare from Veronica.

"Okay, ignoring the negativity. Betty, you know me." Veronica turned to look at her friend, "Any excuse to wear a cute party dress."

"Yeah." Betty smiled in agreement.

"Okay, so I'm thinking a quaint gathering." Veronica clasped her hands together in thought, planning their little surprise party. "Inner circle only."

"Oh my god." Kevin leaned back, the smile slipping from his face. "Don't turn around."

In true fashion, swiftly, each one of them turned to see what Kevin was looking at. Chuck was back at school after Betty and Veronica had gotten him suspended. They had only mentioned the necessary parts of the story, keeping something hidden from the rest.

But there are no secrets that time does not reveal.

"When are Jughead and Archie getting here?" Savannah asked as she poked her head through the kitchen door.

"No idea." Betty told her, honestly. "Archie's going to let us know."

"Okay." The brunette nodded, sliding further into the kitchen. "How's the cake coming along?"

"Terribly!" Betty cried, throwing her hands up in distress. Cake batter was all over the kitchen counters, much too thick to rise in the oven.

Savannah couldn't help but laugh as she placed her hands on Betty's shoulders from behind, peering over to look at the mess she'd created. "Tell you what," She started to propose, "You clean this up, because that's a hot mess."

"But we need a cake."

"And a cake you shall have, dear Elizabeth." Savannah cooed to her friend, handing her a bunch of paper towels. "Now get to work."


	19. Chapter 19

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **NINETEEN**

"Ta da!" Savannah sang as she pulled a victorian sponge from the oven. It was slightly browner around the edges but with a coat of icing, no one would notice.

"You're a life saver!" Betty cried out, looking like she could kiss her. "I'll make some icing."

"Okay." Savannah chuckled, attempting to coax the cake out of the tin without chopping off a large chunk. With a cry of success, she settled it on a cooling rack.

Kevin came skidding into the kitchen, sliding on the tiles. "Archie just texted, they're on their way."

The two girls shared a look of utter horror as they glanced at the cake. Kevin hurried back into the living room where they were all setting up for Jughead's surprise.

"Go." Betty encouraged, holding up a bowl that she was mixing the icing in.

"Are you sure?" She eyed the bowl, the girl and then the cake, in worry.

"I'm sure I can decorate a cake without screwing up." Betty reassured her, lightly pushing her shoulder to encourage her.

"Okay." Savannah held up her hands and tossed down the oven mitts she still had on. "Good luck."

The girl could spot everyone in less than a heart beat, each of them awful at hiding. Ethel had hidden the doorframe, Kevin behind some balloons, whilst Veronica was helping herself to Fred Andrews' whisky.

The door opened just as Savannah had entered the room, leaving her directly in the middle. "Uh, surprise!" She cried out with the rest, the lights switching on as Archie and Jughead appeared around the door.

"Happy birthday!" Betty cried after the rest of them, bouncing into the room with icing powder on her cheek. She wrapped her arms around Jughead, who hugged her back.

"Hey, you really shouldn't have."

Savannah caught his eye over her shoulder and shrugged, holding up a plastic cup that Veronica had pushed into her hand. "Any excuse for a party, right?" She offered, to which he half-heartedly smiled.

Kevin appeared in front of Jughead, the latter murmuring a _"Oh, it's Kevin."_.

"Happy birthday, bud!" He beamed, hugging the boy who looked very uncomfortable. "This is my boyfriend, Joaquin."

"Hi!" Savannah butted in, allowing Jughead to breath. "I'm Savannah." She introduced herself to Kevin's boyfriend. "I'd say I've heard so much about you, but I don't listen."

Joaquin simply laughed.

"Nice to meet you." Jughead shook hands with Joaquin, before looking around and frowning. "Where did Betty go?"

He couldn't have timed his question better, just as the door to the kitchen opened and in came Betty, holding a cake with many candles. She started singing Happy Birthday when Savannah slipped out into the cool air to see Veronica on the front steps.

"You okay?" She asked the dark haired girl, watching in concern as she tipped the amber liquid into her mouth.

"Rough day." Veronica replied bluntly. "Why aren't you in there?"

"Jughead is clearly uncomfortable." Savannah let out a sigh and handed Veronica her own cup full of whisky. "And singing without music makes me cringe."

"Poor Betty." Veronica half-laughed, "She was so excited for this."

"He didn't want it though." Savannah insisted, "This is only going to end in disaster."

"What else would you expect?" The dark haired girl muttered, "This is Riverdale."

* * *

She couldn't help it. When Savannah saw Cheryl burst through the front door with Chuck and a couple of kegs, she broke out into a wide grin. It reminded her of old times when she and Piper would crash a party that the seniors were holding, somehow getting away with it.

Except Piper wasn't with her, she was standing with another girl with olive skin and dyed blue hair. Savannah couldn't say that it looked horrid because the girl was absolutely stunning in her leather dress and converse.

Piper and Kyle had broken up. It was official.

Savannah had barely seen Kyle, who would go to work and come home, locking himself in his room. They'd been dating for a while, it seemed so odd to spend all of your time with someone to suddenly never seeing them.

That happened last week, the breakup, and Piper didn't look anywhere near heartbroken.

"Hey friend." Cheryl gushed, her arm catching Savannah's. "Enjoying the party?"

"The one you weren't invited to?" She asked, void of malice. "Yeah, it's great fun. The kegs were a good idea."

Cheryl threw her hair over her shoulder with pride, "That was my idea. I have connections."

"Of course you do." Savannah nodded with a slight sigh, "Can I catch up with you later, Cheryl? I need to speak to someone."

"Sure." Cheryl winked, "Save me a dance."

Savannah waved her off as she pushed through the crowd that had accumulated in Archie's living room. She stopped dead in front of Piper and the girl, a scowl fixed on her face.

The olive skinned girl had caught sight of her and motioned with her head to Piper.

Piper turned to face Savannah and felt the blood drain from her face.

"Didn't expect me to be here?" Savannah asked boldly, growing angry.

"Not really, no." Piper said quietly, "I didn't know you and Archie were friends."

"Had to make new ones when you abandoned me for my brother, right?"

The olive skinned girl cut in softly, "I'm going to give you two some space."

Savannah didn't say anything as the girl slid past her, muttering apologies to people that she bumped into. Piper looked terrified, not of Savannah, but of something else that was plaguing her thoughts.

"Who was that anyway?" Savannah scoffed, having never seen the girl before.

"That was Ryan." Piper confessed, her eyes pleading as they met Savannah's shocked ones. "She's from southside."

Savannah was stunned.

In her mind, Ryan had always been a burly male who would tower over Kyle and had won Piper's affections. It was much easier to hate the girl with that image, but the truth? Was much harder to handle.

The arguments between Piper and Kyle made sense, when it seemed there was nothing to be angry about, Piper had been battling her inner demons. She hadn't known whether she could truly love Kyle when her eyes would lock onto a beautiful blue haired girl that smiled brighter than the sun.

"Ryan?" Savannah's voice cracked as she asked. "That's Ryan?"

"Yeah." Piper said weakly, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Me too." Savannah sighed, unable to look at her friend anymore. She turned and left her standing in the middle of the Andrews' living room, the blue haired beauty appearing at her side in an instant, concern clouding her features.

The girl burst out of the house and into the garden, where there were more teenagers pouring over the kegs, swarming her like bees. She tried not to choke on the stench of beer and BO as she pushed her way into the garage.

"Oh hello." She greeted upon seeing Jughead and Archie in the middle of a conversation. "I'm sorry, I'll let you guys finish."

"It's fine." Archie assured her, motioning for her to sit next to him. "Are you at least having fun?"

"No." Savannah said simply, "I found out that the boy Piper kissed is actually a girl, so that's great fun."

Jughead and Archie both frowned at that, the latter speaking, "I thought she was dating your brother?"

" _Was._ " Savannah repeated, clarifying. "That's the key word."

There was a knock at the door and there FP Jones stood, a present under his arm and a hesitant look on his face. It seemed apparent that he didn't feel welcome at his son's birthday party - but that could be due to the drunk teenagers roaming about.

"Dad, hey." Jughead stood up immediately, the brunette female taking his place next to the dog.

"Happy birthday, Jughead." FP said to his son, meeting him in the middle of the room.

Archie stood up also, moving to greet the man. "How are you, Mr. Jones?"

"Happy to be here, celebrating with my son."

Savannah peered around the side of Jughead's form to see his father, "Hi Mr. Jones, I'm Savannah!" She looked at the dog and then back to him, "I'd shake your hand, but you know." She motioned to the animal.

"Nice to meet you." FP Jones offered, sending a small smile in her direction. "Didn't realise you had so many friends." He said to Jughead.

"I don't." Jughead told him, simply. "Fair warning, you're the only adult here."

"So I gather." FP nodded, shifting so the present under his arm slid into his two large palms. "Where can I put this?"

"There's a table in the den." Archie told him pointing in the general direction.

"Alright." FP started to move back out of the room when Jughead's voice stopped him.

"How - Dad?" The boy stepped forward after his father, "Did Betty call you?"

"Yeah." FP confirmed with another nod, "She came by too. She's determined, that one. Good friend."

Savannah scoffed from her position on the armchair, ignoring the three sets of eyes that turned to face her green monster. Of course, she was jealous. Jughead and Betty were just friends, but the way that Betty was behaving, did not seem very _friendly_.

"I'll be back." FP told them, leaving the garage with Archie hot on his tail, leaving Jughead and Savannah alone.

"What was that?" Jughead asked, taking Archie's empty seat on the edge of a speaker.

"What was what?"

"You scoffed, why?"

"Cause." Savannah shrugged, "Betty's not exactly being just a friend right now, is she?"

Jughead suddenly understood. She was jealous. "That's what this is about? You're jealous?"

"Duh!" Savannah snapped, her eyes narrowing as she scowled at him. "Come on, Jughead! Are you really so blind? I told you how I felt, you didn't say anything which was fine. But still, to this damn day, you haven't said _anything_!"

"I didn't know you expected me to." Jughead told her, honestly, holding his hands up. "I thought you said nothing had to change."

"It doesn't." Savannah sighed, putting her head into her hands, voice muffled. "I just - I just wanted to know how you felt, that's all."

The dark haired boy moved to sit on the armrest of her chair, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know how I feel." He murmured softly, coaxing her out of her shell to look up at him. "I don't know."

To Savannah, he had said everything that she needed to hear.

People had described it like gravity pulling them together, the power of eye contact a few had swooned as they gazed at their significant other, but it was chemistry. Something that the two, ironically, had together, in more than one way.

How they'd gotten so close to each other, Jughead wouldn't remember, his body inching forward, disconnected from his brain. It was as if they couldn't control it, lost in the moment that didn't come.

"Jughead!" Betty cried, the two springing apart just as the blonde burst into the garage. "Hey," She breathed, a smile on her face, "Can we talk?"

"I'll leave you two be." Savannah said quietly, her arms shaky as they pushed her up from the seat.

She could feel his eyes on her back as she left the garage, seeking out a wall to sink down against, attempting to gather her thoughts.

At that moment, Cheryl skipped past, her hand swooping down to grasp her own, pulling her up into a standing position.

"As I recall, you owe me a dance."


	20. Chapter 20

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TWENTY**

Savannah didn't see Jughead again that night until Cheryl and Chuck cornered him at the door, the latter slamming it shut before he could leave.

"Where you going, guest of honour?" Chuck taunted, Cheryl smiling sickly at his side.

"Get out of my way, Chuck."

Veronica and Betty appeared at the door to the living room, their eyes locked on the scene that was unfolding before them, whilst Savannah started to make her way down the stairs from the bathroom.

"Oh, but you can't leave now." Cheryl beamed, a impish expression overtook her face. "We haven't even played our game yet."

"This can't be good." Savannah muttered to herself, moving to join Jughead at the bottom of the stairs. He glanced at her for a second before looking away, growing frustrated.

"Listen up, party people!" Cheryl called out to the band of drunken teenagers, "Everyone has their secrets. And we've all done our share of sinning. That's one thing my dear brother's death has revealed. So let's play a little game to get those secrets out in the open."

Savannah suddenly started thinking of all the secrets that she could have hidden from her classmates. Her relationship with Jason was common knowledge now after his death, even Polly herself was aware of that.

Her situation with her parents? Only Cheryl knew that and she didn't see the girl being that vindictive, despite her little game.

"The game is secrets and sins." Cheryl continued, moving into the living room where everyone started to gather in a little circle.

"What the hell is that?" Jughead asked, growing more infuriated with each minute that he was forced to stay in that house.

"It's a variation on truth or dare." Cheryl explained as chairs were pulled up for Archie, Betty and Veronica to sit on. "In which we own our truths by telling it like it is."

This was an organised attack, Savannah realised in relief, as the three were shown to their seats. It seemed so sick, like animals led to the slaughter.

"I'll start the game with Veronica Lodge."

"Naturally." Veronica drawled.

"Let's begin with the day you and your mob wife of a mother came to town for a so-called fresh start." Cheryl started walking in circles, she and Chuck doing their own little devilish dance. "Tell us, Veronica. What's so fresh about defiling Archie Andrews in a closet?"

"That was your doing." Veronica pointed out.

"Moving on," Cheryl interjected quickly, "To dear Daddy Lodge. Isn't it true that your father, from prison, illegally purchased the drive-in land?"

Savannah's eyes flickered to Jughead, who looked almost betrayed by the news. She could see his eyes land on Veronica, who couldnt meet his gaze.

They were learning things about their friends that they didn't need to know. Secrets were secrets for a reason, and Savannah couldn't help but wonder how much worse this was going to get. After all, the game had only just started.

"Which makes me wonder." Cheryl pondered the thought aloud, "What else is he doing from behind bars?"

Veronica stared down Cheryl, "Well, I can't speak for my father, but I can think of someone with a _very_ dirty secret. Specifically, Cheryl killing her very own brother."

"Veronica." Savannah hissed at her friend, taken aback in shock. It was a low blow, bringing Cheryl's deceased brother into the fold. "Everyone knows how much Cheryl loved her brother."

"Exactly." Veronica frowned at Savannah, feeling let down that she hadn't taken her side. "But did you love him maybe in ways that a sister shouldn't love a brother? And as you got older, Jason started to think it was strange, unnatural. So he chose Polly over you, and you shot him between the eyes with one of your father's many hunting rifles."

"This is riveting, I can't breathe." Kevin Keller, who lived for drama, whispered to his boyfriend.

"This game is sick." Dilton Doiley announced from the side of the circle. "I wanna go next."

"That's the spirit, Doiley." Chuck encouraged the boy, "What secrets do you have to reveal to us?"

"I saw Ms. Grudy's car at Sweetwater River the day Jason went missing." Dilton told the crowd, "I told Betty and Jughead, and then Ms. Grundy quit her job and left Riverdale, like two days later. And let's not forget that Archie was also at Sweetwater River that morning."

Cheryl whirled around to fix her beady eyes on Archie, "Oh my god, colour me shocked. Archie Andrews, is that why you became a mediocre musician overnight? Because you and Ms. Four-Eyes were pulling a Mary Kay Letourneau?"

"Don't say anything, Archie." Veronica advised from beside him. "Don't get in the gutter with them."

"Wait what?" Chuck exploded from the middle of the room, "Andrews was banging a teacher? Damn, I wish I would've known. I wouldn've added you and Ms. Grundy to the book of conquests."

"You're sick, Chuck." Savannah snapped from the doorway, "Polly was never Jason's conquest, Veronica wasn't yours either. You're just a pathetic excuse of a male who will peak in High School."

"Is that right?" Chuck drawled, his attention turning to her. "If you care so much about Polly then why were you screwing her boyfriend?"

Savannah waved it off, "Everyone knows that already, Chuck, hardly a secret."

"Classy, as always." Veronica added, directing the attention away from Savannah.

"Wait a second." Cheryl started speaking again, "That also explains why Archie can't keep a girlfriend to save his life. He's got serious mommy issues. Anything to say for yourself, Arch? Were you a victim or a perppetrator?"

"Dilton Doiley plays with guns." Betty butted in, attempting to deflect the attention away from Archie, who had shrunk back into his seat.

"Big whoop, Betty." Cheryl scoffed, gesturing to Dilton. "So, Doiley's a psychopath. Everyone knows that."

"Well, I guess it's my turn now." Chuck said, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree. "Boy, do I have a twisted secret to reveal, starring Betty Cooper."

Savannah could recall how Betty had reacted to seeing Chuck in the cafeteria. She had stormed over to urge him away from Ethel, when their discussion turned out to be innocent. Her face when she returned to their table, looked haunted.

Because Veronica and Betty were hiding what really happened the night they spoke to Chuck, the night that they got him to retract what he'd said about Veronica and the sticky maple.

"Leave her the hell alone, Chuck." Archie warned, growing protective of his best friend.

"Shut up, Andrews." Chuck dismissed him, harshly. "Look, you may get a free peep show every night, but you do not know her. Hell, Betty doesn't even know herself. Everybody knows why I got suspended, but what you don't know she dressed up like a hooker, in a God-awful black wig, drugged me, handcuffed me in the Jacuzzi, and, well I almost drowned until she got me to say what she wanted to hear."

"Can't say you didn't deserve it." Savannah muttered to herself, furious eyes locked onto Chuck.

"And then, she really lost it. She actually thought that she was Polly. But hey," He turned to look at all of her friends, Archie, Veronica, before settling on Jughead. "You knew all of this, right?"

As Chuck turned to face Jughead, the dark haired boy, the lone wolf, slammed his fist into the side of Chuck's face. He fell to the ground with the blow that surprised everyone.

Jughead tried to hit him again but Chuck grabbed his arm and landed in a punch of his own, sending Jughead back into the table of food, knocking it down.

Savannah stormed forward, pushing Chuck back with a murderous look on her face, "What is your problem?" She shrieked, slamming her hands against his shoulders. "Huh? Do you enjoy making people miserable?"

"It's what you all deserve." Chuck sneered at her, causing the girl to slap him across the face, the sound echoing through the room.

FP Jones had pushed through the ground and latched onto Chuck, grabbing him roughly and throwing him toward the door. "Get out!"

"Hey, get your hands off me! Hey!"

"Get out!" FP yelled again, forcing the boy out of the house and down the stairs. "Go on." He watched as Chuck scoffed at the crowd behind him and sulked down the street, before turning to the rest of the teenagers. "What are you looking at? Party's done. It's over, go home!"

Kevin and Joaquin were the first to leave, the latter eager to follow FP's advice.

Savannah was shaking as she watched Jughead and his father talk, a moment between a father and a son that she should not intrude upon. Her body screamed at her to go and speak to Betty, to comfort her humiliated friend.

"Need a ride?" Piper asked, gesturing to Ryan. "She's sober, I promise."

Veronica would be with Betty, she assured herself.

"Sure."


	21. Chapter 21

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TWENTY-ONE**

Somehow, and Savannah couldn't recall the moment that she agreed be satan's servant, Betty had roped her and Kevin into helping set up for the homecoming dance. And so, there she stood, perched atop a ladder whilst Kevin held it still, stringing up very large twinkle lights.

"This sucks." Savannah sighed as she twisted one of the lightbulbs, causing it to light up. "I should be doing literally anything but this."

"The faster you work, the faster we can go home." Kevin reminded from beneath her, his body resting against the ladder, making it more unstable than it was stable.

"Face it." Savannah insisted from above, moving down a step for each lightbulb that she would fit. "We're not getting out of here for a while yet."

"I hear you." Kevin sighed in agreement, straightening up and holding the ladder steady as she hopped to the ground. "How many more do we have to put up?"

Savannah glanced down at the box at her feet with a painful wince, "You don't wanna know."

"Polly?" They heard Betty ask from atop a ladder near them. "Thank god, what's going on?"

With a curious look exchanged between them, the two edged closer to their blonde friend in hopes of overhearing.

"And why are you running to be homecoming co-queen with Cheryl?"

Savannah looked to Kevin in disbelief, who shrugged. "What?"

"Cheryl says it's because Polly and Jason were going to be King and Queen." Kevin explained in a hushed voice. "Said it's the next best thing."

Savannah scoffed as they turned their attention back to Betty.

"Did you find something?" There was a pause as Polly replied, "Remember our deal. If you don't find anything by homecoming, it's over, you're coming home."

"Wait, so Polly's their spy?" Savannah asked Kevin, once more, who nodded. "How did I not know this?"

"You don't listen."

"Sounds about right."

"You're not putting yourself in any danger are you?" Betty asked her sister, worried. She then sighed and looked at her phone before sliding it into her pocket, implying that Polly had hung up. "You guys are terrible eavesdroppers."

"Shut up." Savannah cried in mock offense, "I'm better than Archie, come on!"

"I wouldn't say that's an achievement."

"Boo."

"Get back to your lights."

* * *

It was an hour later that Jughead appeared, carrying a box of lights toward Betty. The sight alone made Savannah's stomach churn with jealousy. She recalled their almost-kiss moment, which couldn't really be described as one since they hadn't even closed their eyes.

Savannah and Jughead hadn't really spoken since that night, going the first weekend since they had properly met without sending at least one text. She felt as if the isolation was suffocating her.

Kevin held a hand out to Savannah who took it and jumped down, the soles of her shoes banging against the wooden floor. Jughead and Betty looked in their direction, the former snapped his head back to the blonde quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me about the dinner?" Jughead asked Betty, who looked very confused. "Your mom basically tackled me in the hall to invite me and my dad over before the dance."

Savannah felt as if she was going to be sick at the excitement in his voice. He had insisted there was nothing between he and Betty, and maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe this was a parent-child bonding dinner between friends. Somehow though, she doubted it.

"You okay?" Kevin asked softly, his eyes alight with knowing.

"I'm fine." She insisted, gesturing for him to help move the ladder.

"I know you're not." Kevin huffed as they lifted the heavy object, moving it across a few feet. "It's obvious that there's something between you two, even Betty can see that. She's not going to intrude on your territory."

"Jughead is not my territory." Savannah hissed, starting to climb up the ladder so hastily that Kevin was preparing to catch her. "I said I'm fine, _so I'm fine._ "

"If you say so."

* * *

Savannah returned home that night, ready to flop into bed and get the next day over with. She hadn't been looking forward to homecoming, she didn't enjoy school dances, not since the last year's semi-formal.

She had been dressed, ready in a deep blue dress that fell a few inches above her knees. Her mother had given her some pearls to wear with the dress, matching the detailing on her corsage that Piper had gotten her.

Stupid heels, Savannah had insisted, not blaming her father who had gotten angry at her attire.

That night, Savannah had been rushed to the hospital with a concusion and a deep cut to the back of her thigh. She'd fallen down the stairs and landed on one of her father's empty whiskey bottles, smashing it with the impact and imbedding a piece of glass into her skin.

"Sav." A voice roused her from her thoughts. Kyle was sitting in the living room with the lights off and a movie on. She didn't recognise the film and it didn't look like he had been watching it.

"Hey." Savannah moved into the room, taking her jacket off and tossing it on the couch, taking a seat next to him. "How you doing?"

"Better, I guess." Kyle told her with a sigh.

She had told him that Ryan was a girl and he said he knew that. He and Piper had been arguing over their relationship for weeks, and not because he was angry that she kissed someone else, but because he was encouraging her to go and figure out her life.

Piper had accused him of pushing her away, that he made a mistake into a bigger deal than it needed to be. But Savannah was proud of her brother for being selfless and looking out for his girlfriend before himself. She was a friend first.

Savannah moved closer to her brother and snuggled into his side, settling in to watch the movie.

"I got you a corsage for tomorrow." Kyle said suddenly, twenty minutes later.

"Thanks." Savannah replied with a smile that he couldn't see, "I don't know if I'm going though."

"Because of dad?"

Savannah didn't respond.

The two had barely spoken of their father since he died. They didn't talk of the injuries he caused them and the truth of his death, protecting their mother from the harsh light of the police and reality.

"You can't let him stop you from living your life." Kyle encouraged his sister, "He's dead, you're free of him."

"Am I?" Savannah scoffed, pulling away from him to stand up quickly. "The scars that he left on me say otherwise."

* * *

"So, are you going?" Kyle asked from the doorway of Savannah's bedroom. "You're going to be late."

"Why are you so interested?" Savannah snapped back, sitting at her desk, a mirror propped up against the wall, her makeup spread out in front of her.

"I don't want you to miss out on what I did."

"I'm not going to drop out of school, don't worry."

"I am worried, about you."

Savannah didn't respond as she picked up her mascara and started applying it to her lashes, stalling to see how late she could turn up to the dance. Every part of her screamed to stay home and binge Stranger Things, but she'd promised Betty.

Her phone vibrated on the table, Jughead's name popping up as he send her a text, wondering where she was.

"I can give you a ride in."

"Can you just get out, please?" Savannah asked, growing irritated with her brother. "If I'm going, I'll let you know, okay?"

"Okay." Kyle held his hands up in surrender and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Savannah unlocked her phone to open the text, the first once since before that stupid party at Archie's house.

 _Are you coming? Veronica and Archie are performing and Betty looked furious. - Jughead._

The girl threw her phone down onto her bed where the same blue dress lay, the one that she'd been unable to wear years before. It seemed such a simple dress, and yet her father thought it was too inappropriate.

 _"Change your clothes right now, young lady!"_

 _"It's just a dress, Charles, calm down!"_

 _"Don't you tell me to calm down, woman!"_

Savannah flinched at the memory that seemed far too fresh. She thought of her brother and Piper and how the girl would be all alone at the dance, without Ryan there to keep her company.

With a sigh, Savannah stood from her desk, not bothering with any lipstick, and approached the dress on the bed as if it were an animal. The fabric was soft under her fingertips, as if it were brand new, never washed.

Yet it had been, doused with cold water to get the blood from her glass wound out.

It still fit her, so well, after a year. It was a royal blue skater dress, flowing out around her hands that couldn't help but grasp the fabric, ensuring it stayed down. It felt vulnerable, as if she could be risking flashing everyone her underwear.

"You look great." Kyle had reappeared, smiling at his sister with the corsage in his hand. "Come on, you're already late."

"Okay." Savannah nodded, picking up her flats from the door and a silver clutch. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

* * *

Archie and Veronica were fantastic singers, close friends and partners in crime - however that last part went unknown to their friends, although not for long. As Savannah stepped into the hall, she couldn't help but think that Veronica was standing much too close to Archie.

She saw Betty and Jughead at the back of the hall, the former standing closer to the stage than the latter, who was staring at his phone as if expecting something.

"Hey." Savannah greeted with a half-smile, approaching Betty first.

"You came!" Betty cried, her eyes still locked on Veronica and Archie. "You look great."

Savannah frowned but laughed lightly, "Uh, thanks. You too." Even though she knew that Betty hadn't even glanced in her direction the whole time.

She moved past Betty, who had returned to glowering at the stage, toward Jughead, who hadn't looked up from his phone.

"Been stood up?" Savannah joked, crossing her arms - which was slightly more difficult with a large clutch involved.

"Savannah." Jughead blurted out, sliding his phone quickly into his pocket. "I was sure you weren't going to turn up."

"I wasn't." She confessed with a sheepish smile. "But then Kyle got me a corsage and I thought, better not waste it."

"You look nice." He told her, "I'm sorry we haven't really talked, the last couple of days have been weird."

"Don't worry about it." Savannah waved him off, "I can imagine that your birthday was slightly traumatic, no sweat."

"Thanks." Jughead murmured, his eyes taking in her appearance. She looked like she'd stopped getting ready half-way, but somehow managed to pull it off. Typical lazy and indecisive Savannah.

Veronica and Archie finished their song and rushed off the stage, Betty scurrying over to meet them. She looked outraged, pointing to the hallway, storming ahead of the two, who looked very afraid of the blonde.

"Is Betty okay?" Savannah asked with concern, "I mean, she looks pretty anrgy."

"She's been on edge since dinner, her mom interrogated my dad." He told her, adjusting his beanie. "Missed out on the peach pie."

"That sucks." Savannah teased, mocking his pout. "We know how much you love your food."

"More than life itself."

Savannah frowned as she saw Betty yelling at their friends through the hallway doors. "Let's go see if Betty's okay. She might need backup."

The two made their way through the crowd which was easier than when Veronica and Archie were singing. Most of the students were on the dance floor, a slow song was playing and all the couples were taking advantage of that.

"What's going on?" Jughead asked as they reached their friends, who had suddenly fell silent at their arrival.

"Why does it feel like we're being left out?" Savannah accused, her arms moving to wrap around her waist.

Betty turned to look at Jughead with somber eyes, "Do you want to tell him, or should I?" She asked her two friends, who both looked extremely guilty.

It didn't involve her, once more. Savannah couldn't help but feel like she didn't fit into the close knitted group, that she was like Kevin or Ethel, just appearing at certain times, on the outside looking in, but never fully in the loop.

"Tell me what?"

"We went to your dad's trailer to -" Archie broke off.

"To search it, Jughead." Veronica filled in for Archie, her eyes big and round and worried.

"Why would you guys do that?"

"My mom put them up to it." Betty broke in, looking close to tears. "She was convinced that he was hiding something about Jason."

"We were wrong." Veronica assured him, quickly. "All of us. We didn't find anything."

"We were only doing it to prove that -"

"That my dad wasn't a murderer?" Jughead finished for him, harshly. He looked so utterly betrayed by his best friend, unable to comprehend what he'd done. "You went behind my back, Archie?"

"Jug..."

"How did you - When did you guys know to go to my dad's trailer?"

"Oh my god." Savannah gasped, her hands shooting to her mouth. "That's why your mom asked Jughead and his dad over for dinner, isn't it?" She asked Betty, "Isn't it?" She repeated, louder.

"Yes." Betty breathed, her voice laced with sorrow and regret.

"Unbelievable." Jughead scoffed, moving down the hallway and running his hands through his hair in distress, before turning back to look at Betty.

"I didn't know what they were doing!" She pleaded with him, moving closer to her friend. "I tried to stop her."

Jughead suddenly turned his attention to Savannah, "What about you, huh? Is that why you were so late, did you have something to do with this?"

"What?" Savannah demanded, not quite believing that he would turn this on her. "No! I defended you, Jughead, I'm on your side!"

"I don't know who I can trust anymore." Jughead held his hands up in disbelief, stepping backwards.

"There they are!" Kevin cried from the other side of the hallway, a band of parents came running around the corner, seeking them out.

"Betty, there you are!"

"Not now."

"You have to listen, all of you."

"My dad just told Mayor McCoy about your dad, Jughead." Kevin started, Alice Cooper on one side and Hermione Lodge on the other.

"What about my dad?"

"He was just arrested." It was Fred Andrews that spoke from behind Kevin, from beside Archie's mother. "For the murder of Jason Blossom."

They were out of the school in seconds, them all chasing after their friend who wanted to leave them behind, who couldn't trust his friends to have his back.

The boy who ran down the street in search of a father who wasn't coming back.


	22. Chapter 22

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TWENTY-TWO**

It was just after twelve on a cold winter night, the street lights were beaming down against the concrete, lighting the way for a few stragglers out past their bedtime.

Most teenagers had made their way to one of the many after parties that happened after each school dance, but there was a group of teens who had decided instead, to look for one friend that had taken off into the night.

One girl was walking along the edge of the sidewalk, balancing daintily as she watched her feet cross over each other, each step feeling like a tidal wave, ready to knock her off into the unforgiving ocean.

Her hand was held up to her face, pressing the phone against her ear. "Jughead." She sighed, voice full of worry and distress, "Please, just call me back."

She'd left too many voicemails to count, wondering how many until it was full. Somehow, thinking of her other friends who were just as concerned, she thought it would happen quite soon.

Veronica had texted her, saying how sorry she was that she'd been dragged into their mess. Savannah hadn't replied.

Still in her blue dress and black flats, Savannah wondered whether her brother would be worried about her. Probably not. He'd assume that she was out having fun with her friends.

How wrong he would be.

Her phone vibrated and Savannah's heart leapt at the thought that it could be Jughead.

 _Found him. He's at Pop's. - Betty._

A wave of relief washed over Savannah and she hopped off the sidewalk and onto the road, feeling the stress lift off her shoulders.

The girl set out in the direction of Pop's. She hadn't exactly been looking for him rather than hoping he'd come to her. If he didn't want to talk then she couldn't make him, Jughead wasn't that trusting, especially after his friends betrayed him.

But if Betty had already found him then she was going to see him.

The large 24 hour sign was familiar to her, giving her a sense of comfort. She came here almost every day, either to work or sit with Jughead as he wrote. However as their world started to spin around them, they'd had less time to do the simple things. Like have coffee.

Savannah recalled the empty offer of getting dinner with Cheryl Blossom.

Had the girl meant it? She wasn't sure, but it definitely wasn't likely after that stunt she had pulled at Archie's house on Jughead's birthday. Betty had cried in her room all weekend.

Savannah could see the group stand just as she arrived, all of them coming toward her quickly. Betty latched onto her hand and tugged her right back out the door that she walked through and into the cold once more.

"We're going to the police station." She told her hastily, eyes flickering to Jughead with worry every few seconds, his face unreadable. "The gun wasn't there when Veronica and Archie searched it. He's being framed."

And despite their story, while it may be the truth, FP Jones confessed to Jason Blossom's murder all the same, unable to look his son in the eye as he walked past in handcuffs, now branded a murderer.

School.

* * *

It seemed so trivial after the events that had unfolded. Jughead's father was in prison for killing Jason Blossom, a crime that he did not commit. And yet, there it sat, a newspaper on the top of a plastic cafeteria table - the article that blamed him, with his face for all to see.

"The police report said FP acted alone." Betty said, placing the newspaper back down on the table.

"No mention of your dad, Ronnie." Archie said to Veronica, whilst scooping out the remains of his yoghurt. "That's good news, right?"

Veronica nodded, "I can't stop thinking that maybe my dad hired another Serpent to plant that gun."

Savannah noticed as Archie's hand disappeared under the table but didn't say a word. She was watching as the students fawned over Cheryl, offering their support as if Jason Blossom had died all over again.

"It's surreal, isn't it?" Kevin Keller asked as he approached the group, taking a seat at the table. "How's Jughead doing?"

"Not good." Betty told him.

"He's not coming in today. He's at the station."

"Being grilled by your dad." Veronica added, sassily.

"He's just doing his job." Kevin defended his father with a frown.

"Did the job description mention having to suck up to the Blossom family?" Savannah drawled out, bored of their discussion. All she wanted was to talk to Jughead, but she knew that she had to wait until he was ready.

Kevin scowled at her. "Of course he's going to ask Jughead questions."

"Okay, well he's wasting his time, Kev, because FP did not kill Jason." Betty firmly insisted, slapping her hand down on the table, repeatedly.

"Betty, he confessed."

"Or he was coerced." Betty snapped, "Or he's protecting someone. Maybe a Serpent. My mom saw him and Joaquin together."

"Don't." Kevin interrupted harshly, "Do not drag my boyfriend into this."

Betty gave him a blank look, Veronica opening her mouth to speak on Betty's behalf when Archie cut across them all.

"Oh no."

"What?"

And there he was. The boy that Savannah so desperately wanted to see.

Jughead Jones had appeared in the cafeteria, the room breaking out into whispers as he crossed the open space, his eyes set on one girl. Cheryl Blossom.

"What happened to him not coming in today?" Veronica asked with a frown.

The group watched from afar as he stopped in front of the girl, the entire room was either standing or straining their necks in an attempt to see the son of the murderer. Cheryl had noticed him, looking up with a blank expression.

"I'm sorry, Cheryl." He had said, and despite how quietly he said it, it was if the whole room heard it.

Cheryl swallowed thickly before she stood up, her eyes growing tearful. Her hand collided with his cheek in a painful slap, her hands clutching to his shirt as she shook him, as if he were FP Jones himself.

He stood there, hands in his pockets as she battered her fists against his chest, taking what he believed he deserved.

They all jumped up immediately, clambering over the benches as they made to help their friend. Archie reached them first, holding Cheryl back and pulling her away from his best friend.

Betty slipped her hand into Savannah's and she offered a reassuring smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. The brunette couldn't stop staring at the boy, so broken, that stood before her.

"Jughead." She mumbled quietly, pleading with him to look at her.

Cheryl broke away from Archie and ran from the room, away from the son of the man that killed her twin brother, her soulmate.

"That's enough!" Principal Weatherbee had shouted, "Mr. Jones you need to come with me. Right now."

"He was apologising!" Archie cried out in defense for his friend. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"Right now." Principal Weatherbee repeated, but Jughead was already following the man.

Shaking off Betty's hand, the brunette went after them, leaving behind the group of friends that were calling for her to come back. She didn't care if she got in trouble, she didn't care what biased Principal Weatherbee thought.

She was missing English, she noted as the bell went, signalling the end of lunch.

Savannah sat outside the offices, waiting for Jughead to reappear, which he did, after over half an hour. She collected up her bag, tossing it over her shoulder as he came out to meet her.

"Are you okay?" She asked immediately, before cursing herself. "Sorry, stupid question. What happened?"

"Oh, just my second interrogation for the day." Jughead muttered as they moved through the halls, the girl struggling to keep up with the boy and his long legs. "Don't know who's more of a dick, Keller or Weatherbee."

"Weatherbee." Savannah answered quickly. "I mean, clearly that wasn't your fault but of course he'd find a way to pin it on you."

Jughead suddenly stopped in the hallway, "I, uh, wanted to apologise for attacking you at homecoming."

"Don't worry about it." Savannah said instinctively. "You were on edge, you found out that your friends betrayed you."

"I just -" Jughead paused to run his hands under his beanie before pulling it back over his head, "I just don't know who to trust, my dad - _my own flesh and blood_ lied to me and I can't -"

"Hey." Savannah cut him off gently, moving forward to take his hands, pulling them away from the back of his neck. "You can trust me. Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

Jughead shook his head and the girl pulled him in for a hug, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"You deserve so much better than all this, Jughead." She muttered into his denim jacket, "I'm so sorry."

He wasn't a big hugger, but in that moment, feeling so desperately lost and alone, he let his arms fall around the girls waist and embraced her just as tightly as she had him.


	23. Chapter 23

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TWENTY-THREE**

"Joaquin?" Savannah asked Kevin as he led her toward where Archie and Veronica were talking to his boyfriend. "FP called Joaquin? Why?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Kevin sighed, holding the door open for the girl.

Savannah moved to stand next to Archie, her eyes settling on the Southside Serpent that sat in an armchair before them.

"It was basically just a warning." Joaquin told them, his foot tapping nervously against the floor. "Said to lay low."

"No one uses their one call to say lay low." Veronica argued, her arms folded across her chest.

"Joaquin, do you know something?" Kevin moved closer to his boyfriend, eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm not talking to you as your boyfriend. I'm talking to you as the Sheriff's son. Did FP kill Jason?"

Joaquin didn't say anything for a moment, letting out a sigh before uttering, "Yeah."

"Oh my god."

"I mean, I assume."

"Did you see him pull the trigger?" Veronica inquired, desperate to find out if her father was linked to Jason Blossom's death.

"No, no, God, no."

"Then why do you think he did it?" Archie frowned at the Serpent boy.

Joaquin closed his eyes for a beat, hands clasped together tightly. "On July 11th, I got a phone call in the middle of the night from FP. He said he needed help with some clean up job at the Whyte Wyrm."

"What job?" Kevin demanded, looking as if he were about to be sick.

"The basement of the Whyte Wyrm is off-limits to everyone. But that's where I met FP." Joaquin continued, wringing his wrists. "And that's where I saw... He'd been shot. I never asked FP if he did it, I just - I mean, I was terrified, I just assumed. We stashed the body in a freezer, cleaned up the mess, got rid of any evidence."

"You are a criminal." Kevin told him, his voice close to breaking.

Savannah didn't say anything, merely stared at the boy that had practically covered up the death of Jason Blossom. She thought that if it had been FP, this boy would have let him get away with it.

"You disgust me." Savannah snapped at the boy, Veronica slipping a hand into hers quickly, as if to calm her.

"Joaquin." She said, addressing the boy. "FP has done jobs for my dad, Hiram Lodge, in the past. Do you think killing Jason was one of them?"

Joaquin bobbed his head in thought, trying to recall a time when he'd heard the name. "There was one time I overheard a conversation between FP and Mustang."

"Who's Mustang?" Archie asked.

"He's another Serpent. The only other guy who knew about the cleanup. The guy you got into a fight with at the Wyrm."

"Yeah, thanks for that." Savannah turned her attention to Archie, "Dragging my brother into a bar on the Southside, just after he'd been beaten up. Don't think I've forgotten."

Archie shot an apologetic look in her direction before they looked back at Joaquin, focusing on the task at hand.

"Anyway," Joaquin continued, "I heard him tell FP something about some rich guy. I don't know who."

"Where is Mustang?" Veronica asked him.

"No, no, no." Joaquin shook his head, eyes wide. "You do not want to go see him."

"Yes, I do." Veronica corrected him with a frown, looking to Savannah who merely shrugged.

"I mean, I'm feeling up for a little bit of risk and potentially death." Savannah said, sarcastically, "Tell us where he is."

"You're going to take us or I'm gonna tell my dad about your little cleanup job." Kevin threatened, stalking closer to his boyfriend.

"Safe to say that your relationship is on the rocks, huh?" Savannah joked.

No one laughed.

That was how they found themselved at a dingy motel, staring into the bathroom of Mustang's room to see him dead in the bathtub, a needle hanging from the crook of his arm.

It wasn't a surprise that it would be ruled an overdose. The room was littered with pills and other various drugs, a bong and empty bottles of alcohol. The place looked like the cheap version of a VIP room at a club.

Joaquin and Kevin ran, the latter telling the others to call his dad.

Which they did.

"How'd you know he lived here?" The question that stumped them all.

"Sheriff?" Saved by the deputy. A woman in a brown jacket ducked under the crime scene tape with a leather bag in hand. "Found it under his bed." She opened the bag to show hundreds of dollars within.

"Maybe crime pays well afterall." Savannah muttered to Veronica, who was staring at the bag with wide eyes.

"Hermione Lodge." Sheriff Keller had noticed the band on the bag. "You mind explaining to me why your initials are on this bag?"

"Not Hermione Lodge, Sheriff." Veronica spoke up, hesitantly. "Hiram Lodge, my dad -"

"Veronica!" Her mother cut her off with a look of outrage.

"He was doing business with the Serpents!"

"And that's all we're saying until there's an attorney present."

* * *

"Kevin, where are we going?" Savannah cried, as the boy dragged her, Betty and Jughead through the woods. "What did Joaquin say to you?"

"Joaquin said that he didn't know if it would help your dad or make things worse, Jughead." Kevin explained, a flashlight in hand.

"Whatever it is that we're looking for." Savannah muttered, using the light on her phone as a guide, not feeling as prepared as the other three. She'd been on her way to Pop's for a shift when Betty called her.

So much drama in one day.

She was surprised she hadn't been fired yet.

"I guess we're gonna find out." Betty sighed, trailing behind Jughead. "And why did he wait so long to tell us?"

"FP called him from jail." Kevin said, pointedly. "Told him to forget about their plan, some contingency plan. He said it was too dangerous."

"Déjà vu." Jughead commented, his light flickering against the maple syrup sign.

Savannah remembered trekking out here with Betty and Jughead to find Jason and Polly's getaway car. She could remember how hollow she had felt after that night, finding out that Polly was pregnant and just how deep the roots went in the lies that were Jason Blossom.

She took in a shaky breath, trying hard not to think of Jason, despite how all their efforts revolved around finding his killer. Jason Blossom was the centre of their attention, all the time.

"Right here." Jughead rifled through a particularly bare bush, retrieving a backpack and unzipping it swiftly.

Jason's football jersey.

The one that they had saw in the back of the car, evidence that proved he had torched it, removing the jacket before he set it alight.

Savannah couldn't help but stare at it, the name, specifically. How many times she had saw him wear that jersey, she couldn't count. All the memories she had of him, suddenly in each one, he was wearing that jacket.

The girl sniffled softly, her head falling into her hands as she sat in the Andrews' garage.

"Why would FP say Jason's varsity jacket is dangerous?" Betty asked, curiously. "What could that mean?"

"I could ask my father?" Veronica offered as she moved into the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. "He would know, considering we found concrete proof that he hired the Serpents to kill Jason. Which probably means that your dad pulled the trigger, Jughead."

They shared a look of despair. Two children, forced to live with the decisions that each of their fathers had made.

"I'm sorry."

The group fell into silence as it started to hit them, that Jughead's dad had really killed Jason and Hiram Lodge had paid him to do it. Savannah ran her hands through her hair, stood up and joined the group.

She stood next to Jughead, who felt as if he should be used to feeling disappointed in his father by now. Her hand slid over his shoulder in support and his own covered hers. They both needed a friend right now.

"No." Betty shook her head defiantly. "No. No, I'm not giving up yet." She reached for the jacket, holding it up for them all to see before she thrust it at Archie. "Put this on." She swung it over his head, waiting for him to slide his arms through the sleeves.

"What?"

"Put it on."

"Betty, this is weird."

The girl didn't listen to him as she went around the jacket, feeling the pockets, sliding her hands up the jacket and around the zipper. "There's a hole in the pocket."

"Now we're grasping at straws." Kevin interjected, their eyes never leaving as Betty started to feel along the lining.

"Okay, no, I don't know about you guys, but whenever I have a hole in my pocket," Betty defended herself, "I always lose my chapstick in the lining."

"Or my Montblanc." Veronica chimed in.

"Hold on." Betty murmured, her fingers grasping at something and tugging it out from within.

It was a silver pendrive, small enough to have been hidden inside the jacket. Betty held it up, victorious, as Kevin scoffed and Veronica frowned at the object.

"What the hell?"

"Nancy Drew strikes again."

Savannah smirked, "Grasping at straws now, are we, Kevin?"

* * *

She wasn't ready.

The group all gathered around Archie's laptop, perched on the edge or squished in the middle of a small couch. Their eyes glued to the screen as the pendrive was pushed into the slot, waiting for the familiar popup.

"Savannah?" Veronica asked gently, lifting her eyes from the screen to look at the girl that stood in front of them. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." She mumbled, starting to pace back and forth. "We don't know what's on that drive, it could be anything."

"Don't you want to know the truth?" Betty stood up from the couch to take her friend's arm, halting her mission to pace a hole into the floor.

"Yes." Savannah sighed, and Betty smiled, leading her over to the group, urging Archie to budge over.

The pendrive had one file on it. A video.

A video that showed Jason Blossom, tied to a chair in the basement of the Whyte Wyrm, a bar on the south side of Riverdale. A Serpent, Mustang, who they had found, overdosed in the bathtub of a dingy hotel room, was taunting him.

"Oh my god." Veronica gasped as they watched the unthinkable.

That Clifford Blossom, Jason's own father, walked into the basement of the Whyte Wyrm, stood in front of his son. His eyes caught onto the outline of Nana Blossom's ring in his shirt pocket and he stepped forward to take it from him.

Jason tugged at his restraints, not saying a word as his father took one last look at him, raised a gun and fired.

Savannah could feel the group gasp and recoil into the back of the couch, but she didn't move. His own father had killed him. The man that had raised him as his own, encouraged his successes and should have wanted only the best for his son.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, the girl leapt up from the couch and raced from the garage. Her body crashed against the wall outside of the Andrews' house, unable to keep herself upright as she slid to the ground.

And that was when it hit her, that Jason Blossom, was well and truly, dead.


	24. Chapter 24

**SMOKESTACKS**

CHAPTER | **TWENTY-FOUR**

"I told her I wouldn't do it." Betty announced, "Not unless you're up there with us, Jug."

"I appreciate the righteous indignation, Betty, I do." Jughead told her with humour in his tone, "But Jubilees aren't my thing."

"Jug, hows your dad?" Archie asked, taking a bite out of his chicken. "Did you get in to see him?"

"Here's the latest." Jughead started, as if he were spreading around locker room gossip. "Mayor McCoy wants my dad to name names in exchange for a lesser sentence."

"What?" Betty exclaimed, "Who's names?"

"The Serpents. Sheriff Keller thinks they're dealing the drugs that Clifford Blossom brought into town."

"My dad says more and more drugs are hitting the streets." Kevin interjected with a somber expression on his face.

"Kevin, relax." Jughead told him with a scoff, "This isn't _The Wire_. My dad says they weren't the ones dealing."

"Meanwhile, Mayor McCoy hasn't even said the words Clifford or Blossom in public." Betty contributed, raising her eyebrows as if she should be surprised. "It's all about how the Serpents are the problem. The Villains. This is outrageous, I'm writing an article about this. And not just for the Blue and Gold, for the Register. This is a town story."

"Okay." Jughead said hesitantly, "As long as the article doesn't include my dad."

"No, it is going to be about your dad, Jug." Betty declared firmly, "It doesn't matter how many Jubilees Mayor McCoy throws. This town has changed."

Veronica watched as Betty leaned back with a sigh. "Speaking of the Jubilee. Does anyone know is Savannah is going?"

The group all looked exchanged glanced, each of them coming up blank.

"She won't answer my calls." Jughead admitted, his phone sitting in front of him on the table, attracting his attention every few seconds. "She text me saying not to worry but, what does she expect?"

"It must have been difficult for her." Betty hypothesised, "She watched the boy that she had basically been in a relationship with, get shot by his own dad."

"I'll try and speak to her later." Veronica assured her friend, "I'll try and get her to come to the Jubilee.

Both Betty and Jughead nodded in thanks.

* * *

As Savannah wandered blindly through the halls of the school, she heard the whisperings of a girl who had written an article defending the Serpents. Her mind was clouded with fog, each locker slam echoing like a gun shot through her ears.

Kyle had made her come back to school. She'd already missed two days.

Savannah guess that the girl who wrote it article was Betty Cooper, one of her closest friends. That she'd tried to defend Jughead's dad as an act of friendship and support, painting a target on her back in return.

She felt two pairs of eyes on her as she walked into the cafeteria, over to their usual table, on the other side of the hall as the table she used to sit at with Piper, her ex-best-friend.

"Savannah!" She heard Veronica cry in surprise, "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Fine." The brunette said, stonily. "What are you two talking about?"

Veronica frowned in concern for the girl, "Uh, just that I'm dating his best friend, so I thought we should get to know each other better."

Savannah quirked an eyebrow, "You and Archie? Congratulations." She didn't sound too joyful.

There was a click of heels from behind her, causing the girl to turn around and see Cheryl Blossom standing there, staring directly at the boy that she had attacked in the same room less than a week ago.

"Jughead." She started, guilt etched across her featured. "I'm sorry. I have no right to pummel you the way I did that day. As recompense, I'd like to give you this." She tossed something to him, which he swiftly caught. "My iconic spider brooch. It'll catch a pretty penny at the local pawnshop. Enough to keep you in burgers and S t-shirts for years, if not, decades."

"Cheryl, what is going on?" Veronica asked firmly, trying to get an answer out of the girl for the second time that day.

"I'm -"

She was interrupted by Kevin who skidded to a halt in front of their table, "Guys, hurry, it's Betty's locker. Come on. It's bad. Come on."

Jughead and Veronica leapt up in an instant, following after Kevin, the girl latching onto Archie's wrist as they passed by, urging him to come with them. They left one girl behind, a girl who was watching the final Blossom twin carefully.

She studied the girl from head to toe before smiling, "You offered me dinner before, right?"

Cheryl nodded, almost like a robot. "Yes."

"Let's make it lunch." Savannah gestured to the table.

"Okay." Cheryl agreed. She moved around the table, pushing the abandoned trays away from her side as she sat down.

"So tell me." Savannah started, pulling Veronica's tray toward her and starting to eat the watermelon that she'd left behind. "How was it, kissing Moose?"

"Gross." Cheryl scrunched up her face in disgust, "I was desperate for a distraction and he was there. I drank too much."

Savannah snorted, "Funny. That sounds like me and Jason."

Cheryl didn't speak for a moment, pausing in thought. "You saw the video, didn't you? Of my - of Jason getting - I mean -"

"Yeah." Savannah cut her off, saving her the pain of having to say it. "I did. Trust me, Cheryl, you should be glad that you didn't see it."

The red head nodded thoughtfully before offering one more smile, "So tell me about you and Jason, how did it all start?"

"Well." Savannah began with a light laugh, "We were both being tutored by Ms. Grundy."

* * *

"Hey." Savannah swung her head around the doorframe into the common room to see the somber faces of her friends, "Have you seen Cheryl around?"

"No." Betty said. "Did he tell you?"

"Did who tell me what?" Savannah asked, edging closer into the room.

"Jughead?" Veronica chimed in, "He's at Southside High."

"What?" Savannah frowned, "Why would he be there?"

The three exchanged a look that Savannah knew all too well. It was a look that she had seen so many times in the past few months, it meant that there was something she didn't know.

"What don't I know?"

"Jughead can't stay with me and my dad." Archie started to explain to her, "Social services found him a foster family in Riverdale. But it's on the south side, he had to transfer schools."

"Okay?" Savannah shook her head in confusion, "So why the sad faces? At least he's still in Riverdale, they could have taken him out of state."

"You don't get it." Veronica interjected, "Jughead said that he's there because that's where he belongs and that no one wants him here."

It was like a scene out of a teen movie, the four of them skidding around the halls of Riverdale High, Archie slipping over his own feet as they went. They all filed into Veronica's car and she slammed the pedal to the floor, smoke coming off the wheels as they sped toward Southside High.

"So this is all very dramatic." Savannah commented from the back.

They burst through the doors and ran through the metal detectors, that thankfully had been turned off, although the sight of them had Savannah slightly worried about what they were getting themselves into.

"Where would he be?" Veronica asked.

"Cafeteria." Archie and Betty responded.

Savannah pointed at them and clicked, "That's what I was gonna say, yep."

The Serpents were circling Jughead's table, panic starting to fill her up like a balloon until, they all burst into laughter. She saw Jughead's book, tossed to the side. He'd found another source of entertainment.

"Jug." Betty gaped at them.

Jughead turned around in his chair, startled to see them. "What are you guys doing here?"

Savannah couldn't tear her eyes away from the girl with blue hair that had been staring at Jughead. It reminded her of Ryan, who she assumed went to this school considering Piper had said she was on the south side.

"I didn't tell you because I thought you would try and stop me." Jughead explained to Betty and Savannah, who were identical in their sullen faces and crossed arms.

"Damn straight." Savannah commented.

"We're still gonna try." Betty confirmed, a nod from Savannah showed that she was in agreement.

"The Southside is where the powers-that-be want me." Jughead argued his case, "Maybe I wanna be here aswell, I blend in better here."

"What about our second lunches?" Savannah blurted out, her eyes wide. "We have the same study period on a Thursday afternoon, we always get burgers."

Jughead looked to Betty pointedly. The blonde nodded and moved away from Jughead and Savannah, leaving them to talk in private.

The boy reached out for the girl, who stepped willingly into his embrace. He couldn't help but think of how childish she was somedays, pouting with wide eyes, her voice was even more high pitched. She loved pillow fights and stuck her tongue out behind people's backs.

Yet he loved everything about her.

"I finally have an answer for you." Jughead told her.

Savannah raised her head from his chest with a frown, "What are you -"

"Guys!" Veronica cried from the front of the school, a look of panic on her face. "We have to go! Now!"

It was that one, fateful winter afternoon that a group of kids tore across the woods at Sweetwater River, looking for a red headed girl who was intending on reuniting herself with her brother, however bittersweet it was.

They came to a stop at the edge of the ice, their eyes locking onto the girl who was smashing at the surface with a rock in the distance.

She stood, face wet with tears as they called for her, pleaded for her to come to them and that they could talk it all out.

But the ice couldn't hold her weight.

And under she went.

Ignoring the statement that Archie had mentioned before, that the ice would shatter under their weight, they all dashed across the ice and trampled through the snow, eager to reach the girl who had been swallowed whole.

"The current has her!" Archie cried, "Spread out."

They started swiping at the loose snow, wiping away the dust to see if they could spot a flash of red underneath.

"She's here!" Archie announced before he cracked his fist against the ice, surely breaking his wrist.

The surface started to crack and blood dripped from Archie's knuckles, staining the ice and water red. It looked like a bloodbath, as the four other teenagers stood back in shot, watching as their friend went to desperate measures to save a grieving girl.

"Would you like another cup of tea, Cheryl?" Savannah asked the girl, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders as she sat on the couch in the Clarke's living room.

"No, I'm fine, thank you."

"Tough." Kyle appeared around the corner with a smile and a mug in his hand. "You don't get a choice."

Savannah had given Cheryl some fluffy pyjamas to change into, along with some extra fuzzy socks to help her get a heat back in her.

It had been the scariest moment of her life, watching as Cheryl plunged beneath the surface of the icy river. She could almost hear the scream that left Cheryl's lips as she saw her dead brother reach toward her like a ghost with unfinished business.

"I'm fine, honestly." Cheryl insisted to them, "I don't want to burden you."

"Cheryl." Savannah frowned at the girl, "We're not going anywhere."

Cheryl turned her head to face the older boy, who simply nodded in return.


	25. Chapter 25

**SMOKESTACKS  
**

CHAPTER | **TWENTY-FIVE.**

"Let me know how it goes." Savannah sighed into the phone, her heart going out to the boy on the other end.

"I will." Jughead reassured the girl, a smile on his face at the thought of her. "I'll call you later."

He hung up the phone and Savannah clutched it to her chest, hugging it as if it were him. She let out a breath and stepped back into the living room, where Cheryl sat with Kyle, the two of them playing monopoly on the floor.

"Did you move my piece?" Savannah cried out in disbelief as she sank back down to the floor, retaking her position.

"No." Kyle scoffed, holding a hand to his heart as if she'd hurt him. "I am wounded, Sav, I can't believe you'd accuse me." He then paused before quickly pointing at Cheryl and announcing, "It was her!"

"Traitor!" Cheryl gasped, folding her arms in mock outrage. "You said you wouldn't tell!"

"Eh, I was losing anyway." Savannah shrugged, standing up to fall dramatically back onto the couch.

"Who was that?" Kyle waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Lover boy?"

"Hey! Don't refer to him as that." Savannah blushed, covering her face with a pillow.

Cheryl raised an eyebrow at Kyle, who mouthed his name and the girl gaped at him. "You and Jughead? Well I never, I am shocked."

"You're always shocked, Cheryl." Savannah let out a snort and looked at the clock. "The Jubilee is starting." She sang, "Archie and the Pussycats will be singing as we speak."

"You didn't have to miss it for me." Cheryl told her, losing her pep.

"I didn't want to go anyway." Savannah waved her off, "How boring."

"Uh, just thought I should let you know, Sav..." Kyle trailed off awkwardly, "Mom left again when you were on the phone. She had a large bag with her."

"Great." Savannah rolled her eyes. "I've spoken to my mother twice since dad died and she's off on an impromtu road trip."

"She better bring back gifts." Kyle added.

"I second that notion." Savannah nodded in agreement before turning to Cheryl, "Did you want to stay the night?"

"Would that be okay?" Cheryl asked quietly.

"Yeah." Kyle said from behind her, starting to clear up the game that they had been playing. "You can stay as long as you'd like. We have the guest room, or you could sleep in with Sav, if you'd like."

"Would it be alright if I stayed with you?" Cheryl asked Savannah almost timidly. "I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Sure." Savannah told her, holding her arms out for the girl to move into, the two of them perched on the edge of the couch.

"Tell you what." Kyle put the game back on the bookshelf and pulled out a movie, "How about we watch a movie? I'll even allow a chickflick."

"What do you want to watch, Cheryl?"

* * *

Cheryl had picked _The Devil Wears Prada,_ a classic.

However, she and Kyle had fallen asleep on the couch, the girl's head rested on his stomach. Normally, Savannah would feel sick at the sight of them, but Cheryl was feeling fragile and needed the support.

She turned off the movie and placed a blanket over Cheryl, sacrificing her brother to the cool breeze, and ventured up the stairs, planning to go to bed early, for it was only ten past eleven at night.

Her hand reached up to turn the light on in the bathroom for her to brush her teeth and take off the layers of makeup she'd applied earlier, when she heard her phone vibrating on her desk in the next room.

Savannah lunged at the phone as soon as she burst into the room, answering the call without looking at the caller ID. She knew who it was.

"Hello." She breathed into the phone, her heart pounding.

"Hey, you." He greeted in return, causing her to feel weak in the knees and slide down onto the floor of her bedroom.

"How did it go with your dad?"

"Good." Jughead nodded on his end, "I think things are going to be okay. My foster parents are nice and I think I'll make friends at school -"

"Stay away from the blue haired girl." Savannah said suddenly, unable to stop herself. Her eyes widened after the words left her mouth, hand shooting up to cover her mouth in shock.

"What?" Jughead laughed through the phone, "Are you jealous?"

"Maybe." Savannah told him, her voice muffled through her hand. She took it away. "Yes."

"I wanted to talk to you about that, actually."

"Me being jealous?"

"No." Jughead chuckled. She heard him sit down, the creaking of the seat told her so. "I told you earlier that I had an answer for you."

"Yeah, before Cheryl..." Savannah trailed off, thinking of the girl downstairs.

"Oh yeah, how is she?"

"Better, she's asleep on my brother right now."

"Weird."

"I know, but stop deflecting, what were you going to say?"

She heard him take in a breath on the other side, as if he was debating on what to say. "I like you too, Savannah."

"Well duh, we're friends." She teased, knowing exactly what he meant.

"Don't make me spell it out for you." He groaned. He knew that she was mocking him for not understanding what she meant when she first told him.

"You at the trailer?" She asked him.

"Yeah."

"Be there in ten."

She was at the trailer park in seven, parking Kyle's car at the end of the road. Her feet carried her excitedly toward the trailer that she knew was Jughead's, despite her not having been there before. He had mentioned the number in a previous conversation, and because she had a crush on him and wanted to be able to stalk, it had stuck.

In typical girl fashion.

"How did you know this was mine?" Jughead asked in amusement, leaning against the edge of the doorframe.

"I've been following you." She mocked, moving up the steps to meet him. "I used to watch you. Was much easier before I needed to start climbing the tree in Archie's front yard."

Jughead laughed, stepping back into the trailer to let her in, closing the door behind her.

"Nice place."

"Thanks, my dad tidied it up before -"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, a set of lips had planted themselves on his own, swallowing whatever he was going to say.

She'd bitten the bullet, unable to keep herself from attacking him any longer.

It had been tense, the first few seconds where she hoped that he wouldn't push her away, until his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer, starting to kiss her back in sweet little pecks.

That wasn't enough for Savannah though, her hands sought out his hair, knocking the beanie to the floor. She could taste mint on his breath, could smell the shampoo in his hair, her senses driving her wild.

Her back suddenly met the counter and he'd taken control of the situation, fingers grasping at the bare skin between her jeans and shirt, which had ridden up a few inches.

It was supposed to be a sweet kiss, he told himself internally, he wasn't supposed to have her pinned against the kitchen counter as his tongue assaulted her mouth. And yet there they were, like two teens in heat, unable to control their feelings.

It was when Savannah's fingers ducked under his t-shirt, starting to tug it upward, that alarms started going off in Jughead's mind. He broke the kiss and stepped back, taking in the girl's dishevelled appearance.

"What is it?" She asked, worried that she'd done something wrong.

"It's just..." Jughead broke off with a sigh, "I don't want to be another Jason for you, a distraction. I want this to be real."

"You don't want me." Savannah said quietly, feeling rejected.

"I do." Jughead insisted, moving back to her to cup her face with his hands. "Trust me, I do. I just want to know that I'm different."

"You are different." Savannah murmured to him softly, her eyes locking onto his. "You're not like him. You don't just make me forget about the pain, you make it go away," She paused to glance down at his lips before losing herself in his eyes once more. "And no one has ever done that before."

They joined together in another kiss, this time it was soft and gentle. It was how their first should have been, not ruled by hormones, but full of emotion and passion.

Savannah pulled away this time, her eyes still closed for a second afterward, before opening them with a smile on her face. "You know -"

She was cut off by a loud banging on the door.

"Who's that?"

"I have no idea."

"It's not your brother is it? Coming to kill me?"

"He doesn't even know where you live, and what did he do? Jog here?"

Jughead shot an unamused look over his shoulder as he opened the door, finding himself face-to-face with a group of Southside Serpents on the steps of the trailer. There was a dog too, he knew that Savannah would melt at the sight.

The dog started barking and Savannah gaped from inside, "Is that a dog?" She whispered, to which he shot her a silencing look. She zipped her mouth and threw away the key, hopping up onto the counter.

"Easy Hot-Dog. He's family."

 _"Hot-Dog?"_ Savannah mouthed with a scrunched up face. What a weird name for a _dog._

"Hey." Jughead offered to the group, hesitantly.

"Heard your dad could've named names but didn't." The big guy at the front said, "Serpents take care of their own. We wanted you to know, no matter what happens to him, however long he's gone. We got your back." He lifted up a heavy jacket with a green snake on the back, "This is yours, if you want it."

Jughead took the jacket with a small smirk, sliding his arms through the sleeves until it fell neatly on his shoulders.

Savannah jumped off the counter, not quite believing what she was seeing.

Jughead Jones in a Serpent's leather jacket.

"Jughead." She murmured, her hands wrapping around the edge of the door, eyes taking in the new look for him, before she shared his smirk.

She'd always been a sucker for leather.

* * *

 **Okay there it is, guys! The end of book one, just in time for season two to begin!**

 **Sorry that I changed the story about last minute, I absolutely hated it. And I know that it's a little choppy, there were parts where I thought ugh I can't be bothered writing Savannah in here, she doesn't fit in.  
**

 **Hopefully I'll see you all next week (ish) for the first chapter for the second book, "Iridescent".**


	26. IRIDESCENT

**Sorry it took so long guys, but the anticipated sequel to Smokestacks is finally upon us! I hope you all enjoy the next instalment of Savannah's story!**

 **Thanks,**

 **Challie xx**


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